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ao3komorii · 25 days ago

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Do You Kiss? (Heartsteel Sett/Reader)

Finally here with the Heartsteel Sett story :) Hope everyone likes it

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Taping. Interview. Photoshoot. Another interview. Dinner with agency heads. Costume fitting. Last interview.

You were running it all over in your head as you sat in your chair, watching idly as the staff rushed around getting everything set up.

You were one of the first to be in your assigned seat, everyone else either still in makeup or fashionably late, which wasn’t a great look for today, given today’s taping was a special live edition. Your manager had drilled any behavior like that out of you early, cementing your reputation as Runeterra Beat’s top-ranked wholesome, drama-free idol for your entire decade-long career.

You had been scouted at an audition your mom had dragged you to back when you were twelve, and before her and your dad moved overseas for his job. Now you looked back on that day and wondered if that was just their way of pawning you off on somebody else so they could go off and enjoy their freedom while you spent three lonely years having every kind of lesson imaginable until you were ready to debut at 15.

Thanks to a lucky marketing campaign, your first song had gone viral, skyrocketing your status overnight. Very quickly, you were forced to adjust to the life of a busy idol, and had been on the top of your game for ten years now, your songs always high on the charts and eyes on anything you were a part of.

You heard your stage name called in a hesitant voice, turning to see a production assistant standing a respectful distance away, looking nervous.

“Um, we’re having you start offstage today, Miss Meyu,” he explained, the use of your stage name reminding you that you should probably keep your thoughts in the present, no matter how little sleep you were running on. “The director wants to do entrances for the live show special.”

“Sure,” you replied with a smile. “Thanks for letting me know.”

The assistant nodded repeatedly at you before moving onto their next task, clearly starstruck.

You got up, taking up a position just behind the stage’s side curtains, watching as the staff rushed around preparing things as the audience started to filter in and take their seats.

It would be a while before the taping started, especially given they usually had the audience practice the chant a few times to make sure it went flawlessly during taping. The chorus of voices shouting do you kiss had been overwhelming to you your first few appearances, but this was now at least your twentieth one over the years and none of it really phased you anymore.

Do You Kiss was one of the longest-running variety shows on T.V., usually featuring banter between the guests, or little games, but always culminating in the titular segment. The show’s finale would feature a guest being given the choice of anyone on the show, the two guests then both going behind a giant heart screen, one of them applying lipstick, followed by a minute of silence, after which the screen would lift to reveal if they had kissed, the host and guests getting points for guessing right. Scandals had happened, relationships had been announced, and the T.V. station had raked in the ratings.

Being one of the most popular idols in the industry, you were always a highly-anticipated guest. The host had taken to calling you ice girl, as after nineteen appearances, you had never given anyone more than a kiss on the cheek, and that time was only because you had been picked by Akali of K/DA, your closest friend. You were even vaguely aware of betting rings that focussed on the show, your name bearing the lowest percent chance of payout, due in no small part to your agency’s determination to maintain your image as a girl so pure she’s never even been kissed.

It wasn’t exactly untrue; your life didn’t leave a lot of room for dating, and your agency did everything but explicitly forbid it, so you had never tried, despite Akali’s encouragement to put yourself out there. You did however get a little tired of being introduced as the kiss virgin in your introductions though.

The other guests would probably start trickling in soon, once they had finished in makeup. It was probably only taking so long because there were so many first-timers today who had to be given the rundown, you figured, recalling from the call sheet that a six-member band was going to be the featured challengers today. Heartsteel.

Watching the warm-up comedian head out to hype up the crowd, you tried to think of what you knew about the group.

You could remember details about some of the members, though you had never crossed paths with any of them. Each had tried their hand at a solo career, and none had gotten beyond one-hit-wonder status, leading to the band’s formation. What hadn’t worked solo had become a viral sensation, and it was really only a matter of time before they were invited on Do You Kiss.

Their popularity was in full swing, if the number of fans in the audience wearing or carrying their merch was any indication. It was a little weird that they would be on the same show as you, given they usually liked to have high-profile first-timers successfully get kisses.

The clacking of heels from behind you made you turn your head back, and then it made sense.

Niemi Tasoba gave you a little wave as she came to a stop next to you, dressed in a short red plaid dress, the same outfit she had worn on her most recent cover of one of the most popular gravure magazines. She was a popular model, and a mainstay on Do You Kiss, making even more appearances than you had, but she was known for the exact opposite, having made a running bit out of filling out her kiss calendar.

“Fun show today, huh?” she grinned, hand on one hip. “Well, for me at least. I assume your agency is still pushing that kiss virgin thing.”

You shrugged, not really wanting to get into it. At least with Niemi on the show, Heartsteel was guaranteed to not go kissless, which was typically a bad look for anyone’s first time on the show.

“They better pick me,” she asserted, staring off to the side with a frown. “If that skank Eri gets another top-tier pick over me, I’ll scream.”

“Should be a fun show,” you said, just to have something to say in return, not wanting to come off as rude, even to someone like Niemi who was much less stuffy than the execs you had to meet with later today.

“Easy for you to say,” she laughed, your conversation quieting as the other regulars began to filter to where you were, the show about to begin with no Heartsteel in sight. For their sake, you hoped they weren’t going to miss their feature show.

The host went out first, Heartsteel still not anywhere to be seen when the host teased their appearance, the crowd roaring with excitement in response, and then it was time for your introduction and you were forced to give up on the waiting game.

“Next is our long-reigning no-kiss queen, Meyu!” the host announced, and you emerged from backstage with a smile and wave to the crowd, who seemed to ignite at the sight of you, cheering until you sat in your seat and the host went to announce the next celebrity who would be on the show today.

Once everyone was in their seats, there was always some discussion between the panelists before the guest challengers were brought onto the stage, six empty chairs on the other side of the stage waiting to be filled.

“Still keeping up the streak, Meyu?” one of the guests, a popular comedian, joked. “Give me a heads up if you aren’t, okay? I’ve seen the betting odds, and then I’d have enough money to never have to do this show again!”

The crowd laughed, and you smiled politely; a variation of this question was asked every time you came on the show, making it not one of your favorites to be booked on, but your agency controlled the schedule.

“You’ll just have to wait and see!” you teased with a smile.

“You’re always so mysterious,” the host chimed in. “You’re practically the only idol who’s never had her old school photos leaked online. Got an embarrassing old hairstyle to hide from us?”

“Yeah, I wanna see ‘em!” Niemi added excitedly. “I’ve got a bet with my manager on what your real eye color is!”

“Well you’ll just have to look harder, because I don’t give out freebies, especially not photos that embarrassing!” you replied with a mock pout.

The crowd oohed, and then the topic changed to the comedian’s old school photos. You had no doubt that people would try to find your old school photos, which would prove a herculean task for anyone who tried, given they didn’t exist.

Your parents had been fairly hands-off even when they had lived in the same house as you, refusing to pay the fees for student photo days, leading to very little photographic evidence of your younger years, as well as your real name itself, that information was as top secret as it got, despite many attempts over the years by bloggers and reporters to uncover your identity.

If any of your old elementary school classmates remembered the shy girl with more days absent than not, they certainly wouldn’t recognize her now. Since your debut, you had worn bright blue contacts, your hair a variety of blonde wigs streaked with pink and purple. You completed the ruse with occasional appearances in public, paparazzi generally happy enough to snap photos of you out getting ice cream wearing a hat and sunglasses that they never questioned why you wore such a poor disguise.

The pre-guest talking segment continued on a bit longer, everyone’s old school photos being brought up on screen now, the last being the host’s, his outdated teenaged hairstyle getting the most laughs by far.

“I think that’s enough of that!” the host interjected good-naturedly, the crowd’s laughter quieting as he walked to the middle of the stage, signalling it was time for the guest challenger introduction, a spotlight narrowing in on him as he raised his microphone to his lips.

“Now it’s time to introduce our brave challengers,” his voice boomed with a flourish. “Will they win the hearts of our panel or will they go kissless? Please welcome for their first appearance… Heartsteel!”

It seemed they had gotten themselves ready in time, the group of six strolling out, led by a clearly excitable man with dark pink hair who waved broadly to the crowd, his bandmates doing varied levels of the same. You didn’t know enough to place names to faces as you watched them come in, but you found yourself surprised as your eyes moved naturally to one of the boys, a large man with red hair and matching animal ears, only to find his eyes on you already, an intensity to his gaze that you couldn’t place, choosing instead to break the strange moment and turn your head to watch the crowd.

Once the boys were all in their seats, the introductions began, the one you had the strange eye contact with introducing himself as Sett, co-leaders of the group along with the other bulkiest member of the group, K’Sante. Sett handled the introductions for the rest of the group, with the exception of Kayn, the excitable pink-haired one, who assured the band’s leader that he could handle this himself, introducing himself to much fanfare from the crowd.

“Well, I think we know you wouldn’t go kissless with this crowd!” the host joked, now returned to his usual seat in the middle of the panelists. “But how will Heartsteel fare against our kiss court?”

At the cheesy line, the usual music played as the cameras panned across both sides, getting a close-up on each person. Niemi winked, blowing a kiss at the camera, while you played it safe as usual, giving a wave to the camera as it panned by you. With the segment introduced, the host gave the usual explanation of the rules before you went on commercial break, makeup artists and assistants flitting out to fix things up before the show resumed.

“I’m getting picked first, I just know it!” Niemi bragged haughtily, flipping her hair over one shoulder, her eyes on Heartsteel even though her words were directed at you.

“Good luck,” you replied, knowing it likely wouldn’t be a stretch for her to get what she wanted.

“You’re so boring,” she complained as her makeup was touched up. “Don’t you ever get competitive?”

Your response was a laugh as the makeup artist moved onto you, dusting a brush against your cheeks. You knew from experience that it was better if girls like Niemi didn’t see you as any kind of threat, given there was little that could sink a career faster than a rival fueled by jealousy.

With all the touch-ups and little corrections completed, it was time for the taping to resume, the director counting down from five as everyone readied themselves.

“And we’re back!” the host announced.

“Hope everyone had time to get their bets in,” the comedian joked. “I know I did!”

“It is now time for Heartsteel to make their appeal to the kiss court!” the host spoke, gesturing to the celebrities all around him, you included. “As with any larger group of challengers, we ask that you nominate three of your own to answer our most important question… Do? You? Kiss?”

The crowd shouted the show’s name along with the host, their voices booming as the boys’ faces displayed a range of confidence to ill-ease.

“And now, who will be your first challenger?” the host asked, the crowd guessing amongst themselves in hushed tones.

“Obviously me,” Kayn grinned, leaning back in his chair as screams rang out from the excited girls in the crowd.

“That was fast,” the host remarked curiously. “I assume you have someone in mind then?”

“It better be me!” the comedian interjected to laughs from the crowd. “I’ve got money riding on this!”

“You’ve got money riding on everything!” the host shot back before turning his focus back to Kayn. “So who’s it going to be?”

Kayn’s grin was so victorious that you knew what his answer would be before he even said it.

“Well, I was banking on there bein’ some room in the calendar for me,” he smirked, eyes shifting to Niemi beside you, who looked very pleased to have been first pick.

“I might be able to move some things around,” she said, standing up, the crowd oohing as the two made their way to the seats just behind where the giant heart would be lowered once it was time.

When they were seated in their facing chairs, an over-the-top dressed butler approached with a golden tray, bearing one tube of lipstick in the show’s signature bright red, the color that most easily showed on camera. Plucking the lipstick from the tray, Niemi applied it to her lips with a practiced hand. She had been on the show many times, but even first-timers knew to practice before their first appearance.

When she was done, Niemi blew a kiss to the audience, placing the lipstick back on the tray, which cued the host up for his usual line.

“And now, it’s time to lower our barrier of secrecy!” he announced, the large heart descending from the sky until it blocked the two from sight entirely, Niemi wiggling her fingers in a wave as she disappeared behind the heart.

With everything in place, the host turned to fully face the crowd, who were all eager to shout the show’s tagline along with him.

“Now it’s time to answer our favorite question… do you kiss?”

With that done, the clock on the front of the heart began to count down from a minute, and the panel began to lock their votes in, you included. Unsurprisingly, everyone on the panel had voted that a kiss would happen, the audience poll gathering the same result. Though you didn’t show it on your face, you were looking forward to the taping being over; this was always one of the more draining shows you appeared on, and you weren’t numb enough to how weird it felt to predict if people would be kissing behind a heart or not.

As guessed, the heart lifted to a giggling Niemi, Kayn’s mouth smeared in red lipstick, lips upturned in a victorious grin.

“Looks like Heartsteel won’t be 0-3 today!” the host remarked, setting off a round of discussion between the panelists and guests.

Niemi had her makeup touched up before coming back to her seat, raising a hand to solicit a fist bump from you as she sat down. “You’re next girl, I can feel it!”

“Oh, do you know something we don’t?” the comedian teased.

“Girl’s intuition!” Niemi shot back with a wink, but she was usually like this, so you remained unphased. If your agency had their way, you would remain a kissless virgin until you retired or died, whichever came first, not that it bothered you much; that ship had sailed quite a while ago.

The next volunteer from Heartsteel was Ezreal, who looked to you to be one of the younger members, maybe a year or two younger than you. He looked embarrassed as the rowdier members of the group cheered him on, eventually settling on one of the newer-to-the-industry actresses, who seemed relieved to be picked on her first time on the show.

Their meeting behind the giant heart was significantly less exciting, Ezreal emerging from behind the heart with a perfectly-shaped kiss mark on his cheek, which, like Kayn, he elected not to wipe off.

“Two challengers, two… ranges of success!” the host spoke dramatically. “Will Heartsteel rank among our most legendary first-timers? The only way to find out is for us to unveil their last challenger. Who will it be, boys?”

“I’m ready for you, K’Sante!” the comedian cooed, K’Sante returning the sentiment with a confident oh, you couldn’t handle me that drew oohs from the audience.

You looked over the group as they discussed amongst themselves, Kayn jokingly nominating himself again to joint rejections from the rest of the group, their banter sending the crowd into fits of laughter. While they bantered, you briefly wondered who would be picked from your side.

Unless whoever their third member would be didn’t want to kiss anyone, you would be out of the running. The only people that picked you nowadays were idol friends or talent who were forced to do the show by their managers and wanted to get through it kissless. If they wanted to go three for three, then one of the other girls would be their best bet, given their less strict restrictions on their personal lives.

You were listening idly to the banter, but your mind was actually on your interviews today, practicing your likely answers in your head as the host finally pressed the group of bickering boys for an answer.

“We’re all dying to know, who will be your third challenger?” the host asked as the camera panned over the boys one by one.

They all looked amongst each other for a short moment before K’Sante seemed to resign himself to his fate, opening his mouth to volunteer himself.

“I am,” a gruff voice spoke up instead, and you along with everyone else looked to Sett, who seemed to surprise his group mates just as much, the masked one seeming to frown beneath his mask. But Sett paid none of them any mind, staring straight at you with such intensity that it shocked all thoughts straight out of your head.

“…and I pick Meyu.”

There was a variety of reactions from the crowd and panel, oohs mixed with gasps, Niemi next to you grasping your hand so tightly it hurt.

This was definitely unusual, but after so many appearances, you knew the drill.

“Ready when you are,” you replied when the noise of the crowd died down, smiling at the half-vastaya, who silently stared back at you, his unreadable expression making you wonder if you were in for an awkward minute.

“Very brave,” the comedian commented dubiously. “But that smile is definitely the most you’re getting out of our ice princess!”

“Can I put my vote in now?” another panelist joked, a joke someone always made every time you were picked. You thought you deserved a medal by now for keeping your expression good-natured.

With that settled, the broadcast was sent off for one last commercial break, the production assistants rushing out to set everything up for the show’s final leg.

You sat still as your makeup was touched up, watching with idle curiosity as the boys talked amongst themselves, each seeming to take a turn roasting their bandmate, the masked one you idly recalled being introduced as Aphelios looking especially concerned.

It wasn’t long into your observation that Sett’s eyes seemed to find yours, the shock making you break eye contact immediately. What was wrong with you, acting like a teenager with a crush just because some guy made intense eye contact once or twice?

You weren’t normally so curious about guests on the show, choosing to chalk to up to your interest in how well they all seemed to get along, a luxury you were seldom afforded as a solo idol.

And then it was time to make your way over to the chairs, a makeup tech in charge of applying your lipstick for you, as they usually reserved the butler tray thing for the first challenger of the show. You were still facing away from the other seat as Sett made his way over, a voice on the station speakers announcing it would be two minutes until the broadcast was live again.

It was hard to miss the squeak of the chair as he sat down beside you, but your eyes stayed on the makeup artist in front of you, who had stepped back to carefully assess their work.

As you waited to be given the go-ahead, you found yourself with a small pressure in your chest, taking too long of a moment to realize that it was nervousness, which unnerved you. You never got nervous, not after ten years of living this life, so why was the thought of turning to meet Sett’s eyes again enough to have your stomach in knots?

It was because he kept staring at you, you reasoned. Anyone would be unnerved about that. And besides, after this, the show would be over. One minute of awkward silence or idle chatter and then you would be whisked away to your first interview and get on with your busy day.

You only turned to face him when you could no longer avoid it, only to be struck by how much larger he looked up close, which was in stark contrast to the nervousness plain on his face. Keeping in the laugh you wanted to let out, you instead smiled at the nervous man, finding relief in the fact that he was clearly nervous too, despite his earlier confidence when he had selected you.

“Uh, hey–” he spoke up, raising a hand stiffly, then putting it down by his side, but his greeting was then interrupted by the director beginning the countdown back to live, which forced you both to look back at the camera as the show returned to the air.

“And we are back!” the host announced. “Are you ready to see our final challenger of the day make his attempt to woo our ice princess?”

There were loud cheers from the crowd, but all you could pay attention to was Sett beside you, who couldn’t seem to stay still in his seat.

“Don’t blow it, man!” Kayn called out to his bandmate, who made a rude gesture back at him, before the host took the reins again.

“Will Heartsteel’s first appearance end in a bang or a snowstorm? It’s time now to answer our big question!” he announced, the crowd shouting the show title at him on cue.

And then the heart was lowering and blocking off your view of the world, the studio lights dimmer at the back of the stage casting shadows over Sett’s face as he stared at you, still looking like he wanted to say something.

The studio speakers were harder to hear back here, but you couldn’t miss the unmistakable call of start the clock, nor the lighting up of the tiny digital display clock on your side of the giant heart.

Sett looked really nervous, a strange contrast from how intimidating he looked when you first saw him. It was hardly a surprise though, being a first-timer in this situation was enough to make anyone nervous.

“You don’t have to be nervous,” you told him, deciding to be a good industry senior and offer advice to him. “The time goes by faster than you’d think.”

You could hear the ambient noise of the panelists making their guesses, which was no doubt contributing to his nerves. He would probably have to get used to this, because there was no doubt that their appearance today would be more than popular enough to warrant future invites back, even if they went two out of three for kiss attempts today.

You were idly glancing over at the clock, reading thirty-five seconds now, when Sett spoke up again.

“Didn’t think I would be here,” he muttered, avoiding eye contact.

You weren’t really sure what he meant. Was it a personal achievement of his to make it on this show? You had a hard time believing that about such a cheesy show, but it was technically possible.

You were again startled by the intensity in his eyes as he looked back up to meet your eyes, the rapper letting out a short exhale, his mood confusing you. He was so tense, but he had to know he wasn’t getting a kiss by picking you, right? You just couldn’t pinpoint the source of his tension, but at least it would only last for another… fifteen seconds now.

“I don’t wanna regret not doin’ it,” you heard Sett mutter, looking back at him from the clock just in time for about half a second’s warning before he leaned forward and kissed you.

You were in such shock that your situation didn’t fully dawn on you, your wide open eyes staring at his closed ones from closer than you had ever looked at anybody.

Sett’s kiss was firm, his hand on your cheek that you only now realized was there keeping your mouths tethered together, the heat that rushed to your cheeks making you want to close your eyes and give in… but then you were shocked back into realization as a loud buzzer rang out throughout the studio.

And your life as you knew it was over.

“Cancel the interviews!” your manager shouted into his phone as you sat silently in the backseat of the car, staring blankly down at your hands. “Our official position is no comment. If they press for more, then say we have a policy against commenting on our talent’s dating lives!”

You didn’t remember leaving the stage or getting into the car. Everything after the giant heart was brought back up was one big blur that, given your manager’s yelling on the phone, was currently going insane online.

He had tried to interrogate you for all of two minutes before realizing you were basically catatonic with shock, instead on a different phone call every ten minutes or so, clearly in full crisis containment mode.

It was no better at the emergency board meeting at the agency, the managing heads throwing around desperate ideas like it was a competition.

“We should say it wasn’t consensual!” one suggested. “That would protect her reputation.”

“We can’t afford to damage our relationship with his label,” another manager argued. “We have several cooperative events with their talent coming up. If we accuse him of assault, then we can just throw those promotional events away now!”

“And so we just throw our top-earning talent to the wolves!?” your manager cut in angrily. “I’ve had to cancel every show she had for the next week, and we’ll have to push her new single release by at least a month at this point and–”

The conversation quickly devolved into shouting arguments, and you were told to change so you could be driven home.

Shuffling your way to the bathroom like a zombie, you removed your contacts, wig and makeup one by one before changing into a plain outfit, looking nothing like the idol you were when you were done.

Your driver was waiting in the lobby for you, an assistant taking your idol getup from you and freeing you to be taken home.

The ride home felt too short for a thirty minute drive, which you knew was due to your current stupor. As you walked through your door and slumped on your couch, all that kept repeating in your head was why. Why did you let it happen? Why didn’t you just push him away the second your lips touched?

Out of habit, you reached in your bag for your phone, flinching when you saw the amount of notifications that were flooding in.

It was still morning, but you felt like it had been an entire day of work with how exhausted you felt. As you trudged to go collapse in your bed, you idly wondered what this would mean for you. Was your career over? Without your kiss-pure reputation, would anyone still want to be your fan?

You stayed in bed until early afternoon when you finally dragged yourself up.

Grabbing your phone from where you had left it on the couch, you saw a text from your manager, informing you that the press would be told that you were on a pre-scheduled family vacation starting tomorrow, and would not be available for comment, a course of action that was laughable considering you hadn’t heard from either of your parents in over half a year.

It only took half a minute of scrolling through social media for your numbness to turn into anger.

Sett was trending everywhere, the internet eating up his victory as the one to end your unkissable streak. Every post and article also had a close-up shot of you and Sett sitting in those seats, you looking lost and Sett with a telltale red lipstick mark over his lips. It was at least a mercy that the cameras hadn’t captured the actual kiss, but it didn’t stop you from seeing red.

Who did he think he was? Clearly he was willing to do whatever he had to in order to climb the fame ladder, and your reputation was just another rung to him.

That’s why he was so nervous. This was his plan all along. Ruin you to cement his status in the public eye forever, all while letting you sink to the bottom.

It was then that your phone began to vibrate with a call, the screen reading bff Kali. You knew that if you didn’t answer now, she would call until you did. So with a sigh, you picked up the call.

“Girl, are you okay?” Akali’s worried voice came immediately through the phone.

All you could do was let out another sigh.

“Yeah, I figured you’d be like this,” she said. “Seven gossip websites have already phoned my manager for a comment from me. I told him to tell them to shove it, but he probably just said no comment or something boring.”

“Kali… what do I do?” you asked, hating how small your voice sounded.

“Do you want the sad answer or the angry one?” she asked, taking your lack of reply as her cue to lay out both. “So sad option is I came over this weekend and we throw food at a printout of his face.”

“That sounds more like the angry option, Kali,” you replied.

“Okay, well maybe they’re both the angry option,” she admitted flippantly. “But before I get into it, what did your manager say?”

“I’m off for a month,” you answered miserably. “On a fake vacation with my parents.”

“Thought so,” she replied. “I did a little digging, and I think I’ve got a way for you to pay that jerk back… if you’re interested.”

“I can’t,” you groaned. “My agency’s decided they don’t want to risk getting in trouble with his, so they’re hoping it all blows over.”

“Well they’re morons,” she dismissed. “And I wasn’t talking about Meyu, I was talking about you. Now are you down?”

“You know you didn’t ask me if I kissed him because I wanted to,” you grumbled. “Maybe I wanted this.”

Akali laughed, a harsh bark of a laugh that told you that no, she had not considered that possibility for even a second. Akali did know you better than anyone, after all.

“So?” she probed when she was done laughing.

“Fine,” you acquiesced, slumping back against your couch. “What’s your super great revenge plan?”

“I knew you’d get into it,” she replied, and you could just hear the grin in her voice. “You remember Kayn, right? Loudmouth with the pink hair?”

“Um, yeah, I remember him…” you replied, not really sure where she was going with this. Kayn had been pretty hard to forget on the show, after all.

“He texts me a lot. Mostly I leave him on read,” she explained, which sounded very Akali to you. The only people she really replied to were you and her bandmates. “But a few days ago he was complaining about having to run his own errands because every person they hire on as an assistant turns out to be a crazy superfan.”

“Okay…” you said, not seeing what this had to do with anything involving you.

“Soooo,” Akali said, getting to the point at last. “I just texted him that I have a friend who needs a job for a month.”

“Wait…. just texted him? When?” you asked.

“Just now,” she answered. “Had to make sure you were free.”

You shook your head in exasperation at the typical Akali move, but she was helping distract you from your problems at least.

“So you want me to work as an underpaid intern… why?” you asked.

“To get dirt on Sett!” she shot back with a huff of laughter. “You know, sometimes I wonder if that nice girl act is just for the cameras, and then I remember that you act like this in private too.”

“Screw you,” you laughed.

“That’s more like it, I–” You heard a high-pitched ping in the background of the call, Akali taking a few seconds before she continued. “He just replied. Said you can start tomorrow if you want. You still have that second phone you use to talk to your parents right?”

She was going a mile a minute, leaving you only really able to answer her last question. “Uh, yeah…”

“’Kay,” she replied, clearly ready to send the reply, which you hastened to stop.

“Wait!” you cried out, staring at your messy hair and frenzied expression in the reflection of your powered-off T.V. “Are you sure this is a good idea? What if I get caught?”

“With your normal person disguise? Not likely,” Akali replied confidently. “I love you, but I’m not sure how you’ve been an idol for a decade and still dress like you’re in high school.”

Hey… you knew you weren’t exactly high-fashion in your off-time, but when you spent all your working hours in uncomfortable clothing, your first priority in your personal life was comfiness. Not like any paparazzi would get photos of you in your off-time clothes anyways.

“You can do it,” Akali prompted you, sensing your indecision. “Just think of how nice it’ll feel to see that jerk taken down a peg after what he did to you!”

You should probably be concerned about how quick your best friend was to jump to vengeance, but her argument was quickly swaying you. Your career was everything to you, and you couldn’t just let him get away with destroying it, not when Akali was giving you the perfect way to get revenge. You were going to make Sett regret choosing you to mess with.

“Okay, send the text.”

So there you were the next Monday morning, standing outside the office of a record label you had visited tens of times as a guest, but never as an intern.

You had gone the extra mile, donning oversized glasses and a beanie to go with your skinny jeans and almost offensively bland sweater. If anyone looked at you right now and saw an idol, they needed to get their glasses checked.

“You’re the one K/DA sent, right?” a woman in sharp business attire asked as she approached you.

“Uh, yeah,” you answered, trying to sound nervous instead of excited. “I was looking for a position during college break and I used to help out at K/DA.”

The woman didn’t bat an eye at your cover story, quickly ushering you down the hall with her.

“We’ve been bleeding assistants,” she explained, her gaze then turning sharp as if she had forgotten some important detail. “Are you a fan of the band?”

You knew instantly where her thoughts were at.

“I’m not really that into music,” you answered with just the right amount of disinterest. You needed her to have the impression that this was just a job to you.

“Great,” she replied, rubbing her fingers against her temple. “Last one was a little too into the band so she had to be let go.”

She led you through winding hallways to a door you recalled leading to the talent rooms, so more than likely Sett was behind those doors.

She turned back to face you, the pitying look on her face telling you that you still looked appropriately nervous.

“You’ll be fine,” she spoke reassuringly, tone a far cry from her initial suspicion. “They’re an easy enough group, and Alune manages most of their day-to-day. Just do your job and don’t leak anything about them on the internet and you’ll be fine.”

She was worried about the wrong thing, you thought as she knocked on the door. You weren’t interested in spreading rumors online. But maybe you would go to the press, once you had something reputation-destroying enough. But that all depended on what happened from here on.

“Boys,” the woman greeted the band, who were sat on the plush tan couches and had been seemingly mid-banter when you walked in. “This is the new assistant I hired, she’ll be with us for at least a month while we look for someone more permanent.”

“Where’s Alune?” K’Sante asked, attempting to peer behind you from his seat on the couch as if their manager was hiding behind you.

“Alune is busy,” she answered plainly. “PR disasters don’t disappear overnight, so she’ll meet you at the studio later instead.”

“Ouch,” Kayn replied, with a not-so-subtle glance at Sett, who was staring pointedly at the wall, looking bored.

You fixed your gaze elsewhere, worried you would start glaring at him, unintentionally making eye contact with Ezreal instead, who waved at you from his spot on the couch.

“Go ahead and introduce yourself,” the manager prompted you, and you stepped forward, giving your name and a very standard industry greeting, your idol training keeping you from feeling nervous despite all the eyes on you.

“Wait!” Kayn shouted, Yone beside him wincing at the volume level. “You’re the one Akali texted me about!”

“Thanks for that, by the way,” K’Sante joked. “He hasn’t stopped talking about her finally replying to him.”

“She said she was busy!” Kayn protested, though you were starting to see why she left him on read most of the time. “Anyway, if Akali’s vouching for you, you must be good.”

“I’ll try my best,” you promised, looking at Sett out of the corner of your eye, but his eyes were still on the wall.

You supposed he thought himself above a lowly assistant, hardly an uncommon attitude in the industry, and it wasn’t like you had a high opinion of him either. Part of you wanted to make him look at you, make him face what he had done, but there would be time for that later. For now, you would be the most perfect assistant manager they would ever have, at least until you got some useful info to take to the press.

“You’ll be escorting them to their radio interview,” the manager told you, reaching in her bag to hand you a staff lanyard before her phone began to ring. “Alune will be along later, but you should be okay on your own for a bit. I’ll send you the info for the charge account along with the other details by text.”

And then she picked up the call and she was gone, talking a mile a minute about some venue booking until the door closed behind her and you were left in the room with the boys.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Aphelios nudged K’Sante, showing him something on his phone.

“Oh,” K’Sante said. “Car’s here.”

That seemed to be the signal the boys were waiting for, as they all began to get up, filing past you and out the door.

You stood aside, happy to let them go ahead and take a moment to compose yourself, at least until you spotted a phone laying on the couch where Sett had been sitting.

Glancing quickly behind you, you saw the boys were now halfway down the hallway, and so you crossed the room, snatching the phone and tapping rapidly on the screen to turn it on.

You were immediately disappointed, the screen showing no notifications, his phone background simply the band’s logo. Looking at the top corner of the phone, you figured out why; airplane mode.

The sight confused you. You thought he would be dying to soak up the same notifications that were currently drowning you, so why had he put his phone on airplane mode?

Either way, you could probably earn some brownie points with him now by returning his forgotten phone. With that thought in mind, you dashed out into the hallway after them.

“Sett!”

The tall rapper was near the back of the pack and stopped walking at your call of his name, your heart racing excitedly at your first real post-show interaction with the man that had ruined your life.

Sett stared at you coolly as you approached, no sign of the nervousness on his face from when he had kissed you.

“You forgot your phone,” you told him when you got close enough to hold the device out to him.

“Oh,” he grunted, looking a little surprised as he took the phone from you, stowing it in his pocket.

You stared at him, waiting for him to say something or keep walking, but he stood still, seeming to look for something on your face, a zap of panic running through you. Could he see through your normal person getup? Could your ruse be foiled this soon into your plan?

Finally he spoke, your fears assuaged instantly by his gruff question.

“…you’re not gonna ask?” he spoke at last. You didn’t have to guess what he meant by that, and you refused to give him the satisfaction. Besides, you already knew all you needed to about his recent PR drama.

“Nope,” you replied with a shrug. It was better that he thought you didn’t care about his scandal anyways.

Your tone must have surprised him, his mouth hanging open a little. He seemed to get over it quickly, turning with a comment about getting to the car, leaving you to follow behind him, wishing you knew what he was thinking as he walked away.

You sat in the front with the driver, choosing to look over the information the label manager had sent you. Scrolling through the schedule, you knew you were in for a long day, which would have bothered a normal person, but was already routine for you. And if not for Sett, you would be holding single release events all week, the one listed in Heartsteel’s calendar silently heating your chest with anger. You would get dirt on Sett somehow, you resolved. But for now, you had to work.

You stood against the back wall, watching as the boys were interviewed by the radio host who hadn’t even so much as made eye contact with you when he greeted the band as they were taking their seats. Maybe Akali was right, you probably did need to up your fashion game outside of work. But for now, being unnoticed and ignored worked for you just fine.

Alune still wasn’t here, a message shown to you by her brother Aphelios telling you she would meet you at the next engagement, a live performance taping, which left you to assume the manager role for now.

Coming back with waters for the boys, you pulled the station’s editor aside, reciting the off-limits topics the label manager had texted you earlier.

“…and obviously Meyu is a no-go,” you finished, the man nodding with resignation, obviously seeing that particular one coming.

“He’s not gonna be happy,” he replied, jerking his head in the host’s direction. “He’s been bragging about getting the inside scoop all weekend.”

Bottom feeder, you thought bitterly.

“Well he’ll have to deal with Alune if he tries,” you replied, your educated guess a success as you watched his eyes dart quickly to Aphelios. Seems like his sister had a reputation, which only made you more interested to meet her later.

Resuming your place back at the wall, you noticed Sett looking your way. Why was he staring at you?

You smiled back at him; as far as he knew, you didn’t have anything against him, so you had no reason to shrink back from his eyes, which quickly averted from yours, Kayn nudging him as he joked about some show he had watched recently.

Luckily, the host didn’t have a chance to ask his prized question, barely able to get a word in edgewise with how much Kayn talked, the others chiming in whenever they got an opening. You watched the host’s face closely, able to see slight signs of annoyance, even though his radio voice remained pleasant for listeners.

By the end, he looked defeated, clearly no match for the boisterous group, even Sett seeming to come alive at the end, making a quip about how long K’Sante takes to get ready before concerts.

“Well not all of us are content with bedhead,” K’Sante had shot back and you found yourself having to suppress a smile at the unamused frown that took over Sett’s face in return.

“I hope everyone enjoyed our hour with Kayn and the rest of Heartsteel!” the host said.

“Mostly Kayn,” Ezreal joked.

“Well I can’t help it if I’m the most interesting member of our group,” Kayn protested haughtily.

“Certainly the loudest,” Yone added.

With that, a buzzer rang out and you were off the air and ready to head to the next item in the schedule.

Getting back in the car, you found yourself very interested in the conversation going on in the back.

“Did you see his face?” Kayn laughed, reclining back into his seat. “That’ll teach him to try and get a headline out of us!”

“Won’t be the last to try,” K’Sante said, shaking his head. “Tell me again why you volunteered yourself for that one, Sett.”

“He hasn’t even told me why to begin with!” Kayn interjected, who was then elbowed by Aphelios, who shot him a harsh look. “What? I’m not gonna leak the info! If I wanted to get some tabloid money, I’d just leak my nudes instead.”

“Dude, gross,” Ezreal groaned.

“He doesn’t have to tell us the reason,” Yone addressed the silent Sett, who stared out the window, looking like he was trying to ignore his chattering groupmates.

“Well it better be a good one!” Kayn complained. “Do you even know how many thirst traps I’m going to have to post to get all the attention back on me?”

You tuned out the chatter, curious about the new information. They were clearly talking about the kiss. So even his bandmates hadn’t been given an explanation? You couldn’t think of a reason for him to hide the truth. Did he think his friends would judge him for his shameless fame chasing?

The car pulled up to a studio lot, a pretty girl around your age with magenta hair standing just outside the door in. She put her phone into the pocket of her pants at your arrival, Aphelios exiting the car first to meet her halfway.

She greeted him with a fist bump before making her way over to meet you as you exited the car.

“I’m Alune,” she greeted, holding a hand out to you, her handshake one of a firm businesswoman. “You’re the one helping us out for the month, right? Sorry you picked such a crazy time to start.”

“It’s okay,” you replied, giving her your name. “I’m used to it.”

“K/DA, right?” she asked, laughing at your confused blink. “My brother said Kayn wouldn’t stop talking about Akali finally texting him back.”

She looked to Aphelios, who shrugged, gesturing over at Kayn, who was busy fixing his hair in his phone camera reflection. Hiding a smile behind your hand, you followed Alune into the building as she briefed you on the shoot.

“They’re performing Paranoia and then changing into casual clothes for a raffle draw fan event,” she explained. “I’ll oversee the event, so your main job is to get those goofs to and from the stage in between, get them coffee and all that. I’ll text you their usual orders.”

“Can do,” you replied.

“Watch Ezreal, he likes to wander,” she cautioned with a glance back at the man, who was busy checking out the other name plates of the guests for today’s show.

“Noted,” you replied as you reached the dressing room with the plate reading Heartsteel, the boys filtering into the room and leaving you and Alune out in the hallway.

“I have to have a chat with the director,” she told you. “Make sure there are no surprise questions and all that.”

“I’m very aware,” you nodded. “I’ll go pick up their coffees.”

You used the walk to the studio’s in-house coffee shop to think. You were a little surprised that they were so intent on avoiding the topic of the kiss, given most managers would jump at the chance to capitalize on the attention currently being thrown Sett’s way. Were they saving the first interview for the highest bidder or something? That had to be it.

Flashing your staff badge at the security guard, you returned to the backstage area, hands full with coffee trays. The bored-looking man had barely glanced at you, clearly having decided you weren’t of any note, which you found refreshing. It got really tiring hearing whispers as you passed people, not to mention being asked nonstop for autographs and selfies. Out of your Meyu gear, you were practically invisible, which was a strange feeling for you in the back halls of a T.V. studio.

You were extra glad for your lack of idol clothes when you turned a corner, almost back to their dressing room, coming to a sudden stop to avoid running into a man, the sight of him prickling your skin with distaste.

How he had gotten back here was beyond you, mind flashing back to the lax security guard instantly and understanding what had likely happened.

You didn’t remember his name, but the distinctive yellow bucket hat was enough of a clue to spark your memory easily. A tabloid journalist was even a generous term for this man, who you had witnessed previously harassing other celebrities, Akali even referring to him before as that yellow hat asshole.

It was far too late to turn and run, not when his eyes seemed to light up at the sight of you. You took a breath, reminding yourself that he couldn’t possibly know who you really were.

Trying to step around him, you were annoyed when he moved to step in your way, smiling at you in a way you assumed he thought was charming.

“Yes?” you asked when it was clear that he wouldn’t be moving out of your way.

“You’re with Heartsteel, right?” he asked with a glance at your staff pass. “They can’t be paying you very much, right? All these talent orgs treat their lowest rungs like shit.”

Unimpressed, you stared blankly at him, waiting for him to get to the point of whatever this was.

“You can’t buy loyalty in this business, right?” he joked, and you suppressed the urge to roll your eyes. “Listen, everyone I know wants to know what went down on that kiss show, and I’ll pay you better than any of them for that info.”

You felt revulsion rise up within you. You knew that tabloids were like this, but having this sleazeball try and solicit you for what he didn’t know was your own drama was a new low for you.

Your instinct was to politely decline, move on and remain unaffected, your battle-hardened idol instincts fighting to take over. But as you stared at him, and then down at your staff pass and the coffee trays in your hands, you realized that maybe you didn’t have to be nice, not when intern you had no reputation to protect. The realization filled you with glee, levelling a glare at him made up of years-withheld anger you could only let out when you were alone.

“If I needed money that badly, I’d do porn,” you spoke flatly. “Which is a hell of a lot more respectable than whatever tabloid you’re trying to sell this story to.”

“You should think about how much money you’re turning down before you start being rude,” yellow hat asshole shot back, voice tight with anger. “You won’t get half as much from anyone else. Anybody else talks first and you get nothing.”

“Sounds better than standing around here smelling your cheap cologne any longer,” you replied icily, the look of shock on his face filling you with satisfaction.

Taking advantage of his stupor, you sidestepped him at last, quickly hurrying down the hallway and around the corner before he could give chase.

You nearly spilled the trays of coffee as upon turning the corner, you bumped into a broad chest, Sett’s arm reaching out to stabilize you, the only thing keeping you from crying out in surprise being his other hand that had been quickly pressed to your mouth to keep you quiet.

You stared at Sett wide-eyed, but his eyes were pointed somewhere above your head, staring at the corner that you had just turned. You stayed still, listening to the silent hallway behind you for a few tense moments, knowing it would be like Christmas for that slimy reporter if he came after you and found you here with the object of his pursuit for information.

But finally, mercifully, the footsteps you heard began to walk the other way, the reporter none the wiser to the scene he had narrowly missed just around the corner.

Only when you couldn’t hear the footsteps anymore did Sett take his hand off your mouth, which was a relief to your senses, taking a step back to question him when he beat you to the first word.

“That was…” he exhaled, but then seemed to lose what composure he had tried to grasp onto, his words turning into a loud laugh.

Stunned, you stared strangely at him, wondering if he was having some sort of stress-related breakdown, at least until he began to speak through his laughter.

“Never seen anyone put that guy in his place before,” he laughed, wiping a tear from one eye. “You sure you’re not a professional?”

Oh. Suddenly feeling embarrassed, you were relieved that your outburst hadn’t blown your cover at least, but then again, why would it? Meyu was famously friendly and even-tempered, even in the face of the worst assholes in the business. But beyond your surprise, you realized you felt…

“It felt good,” you admitted with a laugh of your own, amusement overriding the fact that you were admitting this to your unknowing bitter enemy. “I’ve never snapped at someone like that before, but he was really pissing me off.”

Sett snorted. “He’s been owed one a while. Speaking of, guess we owe ya one now for not sellin’ me out.”

You shook your head. “What info would I even sell him? I’ve only known you for a few hours.”

“Hell of a first day,” he joked, not even knowing the half of it. “I’ll take these off your hands. No idea how they can stand all this sugary crap.”

Taking one tray of coffee from you, he plucked the most plain one, a black coffee, from the tray before grimacing at the array of colorful customized drinks left. If you didn’t hate him so much, you would almost call his grumpy look cute.

Entering the room first, Sett began to dole out the drinks, side-eyeing Kayn as he was handed the most heinous-looking one of the bunch, bright blue with so much whipped cream on top that it was spilling out of the lid.

“Better not crash on stage again,” Sett warned him as he sat back down on the couch.

“That was weeks ago,” Kayn groaned, as if it were years ago instead of weeks. “Where’d you go anyways, man? K’Sante has a choreo idea to run by us.”

“Nowhere far,” Sett grunted, taking a sip of his coffee. “Just run it by me now.”

“You didn’t go out for some alone time with the new girl, did you?” Kayn joked. “You should really wait until your current scandal is settled before getting into another one, if you ask me.”

There was an immediate flare of tension in the room, Sett’s grip tightening on his coffee cup.

“Somethin’ you tryin’ to say?” Sett spoke, his voice quiet and clearly angry.

“Nobody is trying to say anything,” K’Sante cut in with a stern look cast towards the two men. “When we are out on stage, we are united as one. We must try to be the same here.”

Kayn backed off with a roll of his eyes, Sett turning his eyes to the wall, a sight that reminded you of your first meeting with the band this morning. Had they fought just before you had met them too?

“So, um, that dance move?” Ezreal prompted, getting the group back on track as K’Sante began to explain his idea.

You didn’t really get their reaction. Shouldn’t they be thanking Sett for the huge increase in press stemming from the kiss? You knew most agencies would kill for a scandal like this, idle checking at social media on your phone telling you that it was still all anyone was talking about online.

And why hadn’t Sett told the others about that reporter trying to hit you up for information? Nothing about the past ten minutes made any sense to you at all.

You felt like you were in a trance the rest of the day, unable to put the clues together in a way that made any sense.

“I don’t get it, Kali,” you vented into your phone. “None of their behavior makes sense at all to me.”

“Maybe they’re just pissed Sett’s getting all the attention?” she suggested. “I know Kayn’s gotta be jealous for sure.”

“And why haven’t they sold an exclusive interview yet?” you continued, needing to get the rant out. “I know at least three channels that would pay millions for that right now, but Sett doesn’t even seem to want to talk about it with his own bandmates. Is that just a group thing I don’t get?”

“No, it’s definitely weird,” Akali confirmed. “We talk drama all the time. Remind me to tell you what Eve got up to last weekend when I have more time, by the way.”

You laughed. “When is she not getting up to something?”

You could just sense her smile over the phone. “True. Anyways, just hold in there, you’ll find something. I can ask around on my end too, see if anyone’s saying anything about a big interview.”

“Thanks, Kali. I owe you,” you replied gratefully.

“Hope you’re ready for me to collect this weekend,” she grinned. “Boba, your treat.”

“Fine,” you easily acquiesced, really needing some in-person girl time in the midst of all this.

The rest of your first week was easy enough, Alune having you accompanying members to various events and jobs, nothing out of the ordinary for your usual schedule.

Your last job before you were free for the weekend was a solo shoot Sett had for a women’s magazine, one you had shot with many times before. You weren’t in the best mood, your social media feed today nothing but articles speculating that you were pregnant with Sett’s child.

You sat with Sett in a small dressing room, replying to a message from Alune as Sett bemoaned his current situation.

“If they bring one more jacket for me to try on, I’m gonna lose it,” he grouched, glaring at the door as if it was about to open again.

The staff hadn’t quite been expecting how broad Sett’s shoulders were, leading to over an hour’s worth of delays as the assistants flitted back and forth trying to get all the upper body garments re-tailored. Despite it delaying you being off for the day, you couldn’t help but find the situation amusing, never having been told yourself that you were too muscley for an outfit.

“You’ll be fine,” you told him, sending your latest time delay estimation update to Alune. “They said they only have two more to fix.”

Sett groaned, sinking back into his seat like he had lost all his will to live. “Do women really care this much about a few jackets?”

You held back the story that his comment brought to mind, about the time you were made to stand still for three whole hours while you were sewn into a designer dress. So a very large part of you was not mad at all to watch the pouty half-vastaya have to suffer a bit.

“I can hear ya laughin’ at me,” he grunted without malice, his furry ears flat against his head in misery.

“Then stop being so pathetic,” you shot back with a laugh; he didn’t deserve anywhere near as much pity as you did right now. “You look like a kicked puppy. It’s just a photoshoot!”

Sett huffed, eyes narrowing at you as he went to respond before a knock rang out on the door and he visibly deflated.

“You’ll be fine,” you reminded him, getting up to open the door for the assistants, who like their last few trips over would have their hands full of clothing. “Maybe if you do well, you’ll get a treat like a good puppy.”

Maybe you were treating him too much like a dog, allowing yourself the words as a form of stress release, a much better alternative to blowing up on him. You didn’t see Sett’s face at your words, but he looked drained as he was stuffed into more jackets, these ones thankfully fitting just fine, which meant that the shoot could proceed at long last.

The door closed after you were directed to be on set in ten, leaving you alone with Sett, which you didn’t realize was a problem until you turned around, Sett much closer than he had been, killing the words in your head before they could make it to your mouth.

“That good enough for ya?” he asked, eyes narrowed at you, and it took you a moment to realize he was referring to the offhand puppy comment you had made.

“Wait, you actually want a treat or something?” you said, incredulous, his serious eyes telling you that he did. Backpedaling, you pulled out your phone. “I, uh, can ask Alune if she can–”

“Nah,” he replied casually, the smirk on his face unsettling you. “Only treat I want is for you to come with me on set.”

You stared at him strangely. You were expecting to be on set with him anyways, it was normal for managers to make sure nothing in the photos went against the talent’s brand. He had to know that, right?

“I was already going to be there,” you replied slowly, confused.

“Not like that,” he replied. “Not off in the corner playin’ on your phone. I want your eyes on me, the whole time.”

You shouldn’t have been surprised by the egotistical request, not from someone like Sett, but it still sounded weird to your ears. What did he have to gain from a measly assistant like you watching him? You had no career for him to ruin and you certainly weren’t anything to look at without your fancy idol makeup and clothes. And you knew he didn’t know who you really were, there was no way he’d have kept quiet about it if he did.

“…fine,” you agreed, still not really understanding the reasoning behind his request.

You stared at the back of his head as you both walked to set, unable to put a motivation to his request. Maybe you had been a little snappy this morning, his complaints rubbing you the wrong way, but why would he care if you were watching him or not?

Sett was quickly ushered off to makeup, and you busied yourself surveying the set.

The backdrop was just a forest green wall, giving you no clues to the shoot’s general theme, other than apparently there would be many jacket changes, if your last hour was anything to go on.

Checking your phone, you saw a request from Alune to bring Sett by the office after the shoot to sign some paperwork, quickly firing up a response, sliding your phone back into your pocket as an increase in chatter around you told you that Sett was ready for the shoot now.

Looking up, you froze, unintentionally catching the eye of the rapper as he walked back onto set.

They had dressed him in all black, but seemed to have forgotten to give him a shirt, Sett dressed in a sleek black jacket and dress pants, a simple black choker around his neck, his dark fuchsia hair styled messily, the entire ensemble looking effortlessly sexy.

Your throat felt dry, mouth going slack against your will, at least until you came to yourself again, snapping it shut. You weren’t even given a chance to hope that Sett hadn’t seen you looking so dumb; his eyes had yet to leave yours, a sly smile gracing his lips as he took in your dumbfounded expression.

You prided yourself on never losing control of your emotions, so your cheeks heating against your will felt all the more humiliating. Great, now he would think you were another one of his fangirls.

Sett came to a stop in front of you, the staff making final lighting checks behind him as everyone geared up for the shoot to begin.

“I never thanked you for not sellin’ me out,” he said, the smugness in his voice raising your somewhat-defeated hackles. “Guess we’re even now.”

“Get over yourself,” you scoffed, unwilling to let him win. “I just didn’t want his sweaty money. If the next offer comes from an actual journalist, I’ll take the money and run.”

Sett’s smile only got wider, not the effect you had wanted your words to have on him.

“…ya promise?” he replied, leaning in way too close, eyes pinning you to the spot.

You huffed, looking away from him until he moved to block your vision again, smirking at you.

“Don’t think that was our agreement,” he said, taking a step back from you at last when he was sure he had your full attention. “You know the deal. Eyes on me, intern.”

Your eyes were on him alright, glaring at the amused man until he stood on set, being directed to pose as the photographer got into position.

Irritatingly enough, Sett was a natural. He took direction incredibly, something that didn’t come easily, not even to you at first. As if he already wasn’t annoying enough; could he just have one flaw for you to bring to the press already?

You only dared to look at your phone once, needing to satisfy the irritating itch to check the #doyoukiss hashtag you had been monitoring, the immediate bark of your name like an ice-cold bucket of water on your back.

Looking up from your phone, you found yourself pinned to the spot by Sett’s knowing eyes, the rapper gesturing to his eyes before running a finger down the length of his bare chest, the message of eyes on me very clear.

You froze, unwilling to respond, but kept your eyes on him, which seemed to satisfy him. You knew that the interaction was attracting some stares your way, which was another reason to keep your eyes on Sett, unwilling to meet the curious looks all around you as they slowly began to turn back towards the shoot.

It wasn’t like you had any answers for them anyways. You had no idea why Sett did anything he did. It would make your life a whole lot easier if he had just come with a handbook.

Sett seemed intent on taking full advantage of your deal, pushing the poses he was being asked for to the max, taking any opportunity to show off his body, pointed looks in your direction between shots only adding to your confusion. There were absolutely no signs that he knew who you really were, so why was he acting like this?

The next shot had Sett finally wearing a shirt, and you had thought you were safe, at least until the director gave further instructions.

“Alright, so lift up the shirt like you just got done working out,” he instructed. “And then look off to the side.”

Sett followed the instructions, lifting his tank top up to the middle of his chest, exposing his frustratingly attractive abdominal muscles. You had been too distracted by the sight to fully realize what the second direction had been, at least until his eyes slid over to yours and he caught you clearly in the middle of checking out his abs.

You stiffened with embarrassment, phone digging into your palm with the force of your tightening grip on it. You felt like what a schoolgirl should feel like if they were caught checking out their crush. Except Sett wasn’t your crush, he wasn’t anything to you but a nuisance, so why was he so easily able to break through your well-built emotional walls?

You met his eyes, unwilling to let him feel like he had won, stubbornly refusing to avert your gaze, at least until Sett surprised you by winking at you.

You didn’t make a sound as your phone fell from your grip and onto your foot, Sett’s sudden laugh so loud in the otherwise quiet set as you scrambled to pick up the phone, hoping nobody had noticed your clumsy display.

“I think we got some good shots!” the photographer announced. “Nice touch with the wink. I think the readers will really like that one.”

Stupid deal be damned, you buried your face in your phone, needing something to help calm your racing heart. If this kept up, you were going to get to a point where you weren’t above just making up some dumb rumor about Sett just to be free from this torture.

“I thought he’d be more off his game,” you heard one assistant tell another. “Considering, well, you know, with Meyu and all…”

You wondered how they would feel if they knew they were gossiping in front of Meyu herself, not that you being there had stopped people before.

“I liked that face you were making before,” Sett said from behind you. You hadn’t realized he had made his way back to you, handing him a water bottle from your purse, brain defaulting to autopilot in your shock.

Looking past him, the shoot seemed to be over now, which was for the best. You had reached your emotional limit for the day, still frustrated that your walls had been shaky today. How could you call yourself a top tier idol when one wink had short-circuited your brain?

Sett took the water, drinking about half of it before handing it back to you.

“Ready to get changed?” you asked. “Alune has some forms waiting for you back at the office.”

“Ya sure?” he asked, looking down at his current outfit, tank top riding up slightly on his stomach. “You seemed to like this one just fine.”

Scoffing, you decided to ignore your traitorously warm cheeks, instead texting Alune that you would be on your way soon.

“I’m telling Alune to double your paperwork,” you grumbled, seriously considering the petty idea.

“You better get good at forging my signature then!” he shot back, his laughter echoing in your ears.

“He’s driving me insane, Kali!” you vented, pushing the pearls in your drink around with your straw. “I never thought he would be so annoying!”

Akali really tried to keep her supportive face on, but even she couldn’t resist a laugh at your expense.

“He’s not making it easy on you,” she finally commented, wiping a tear from one eye as her laughter subsided.

“My hand still hurts,” you complained, shaking your hand as if it would magically remove the ache. “Doesn’t he know signature forging is a crime?”

“Well maybe that’s your drama to take to the press,” Akali offered, and you just rolled your eyes in response.

“Kinda hard to go back to my Meyu life if regular me is in prison for forgery,” you said, Akali shrugging in response. “Really no other leads on your end?”

“Nope,” she answered. “Ahri heard he got in trouble once for punching a paparazzi, but that already made the rounds like twenty news cycles ago.”

Groaning, you pulled out your phone, googling Sett Heartsteel scandal like you would find anything different than the last fifteen times you had done it in the past week.

Akali lowered her voice as you scrolled through page after page of nothing new.

“…anything new from your agency?”

She didn’t really have to whisper, the café practically deserted this early in the morning, most customers leaving as soon as they got their drinks.

You sighed, having expected this question eventually. “They just told me to keep laying low while they work out a damage control strategy.”

“Typical,” Akali replied, taking a sip of her drink. “If you need me to punch someone for you, just say the word.”

“I don’t know how you getting in scandal jail too would help me escape mine,” you laughed. “And I doubt you could pull off the undercover look.”

“Nobody’s asking for my autograph right now, are they?” she countered, like her baseball hat disguise was supposed to impress you.

“Well the only person here besides us and the employees is an old lady who looks like she’s never ever heard of pop music,” you pointed out, eyebrow raised.

“Not all of us can hide our natural star power,” she replied, sticking her tongue out at you.

You switched your search to images, idly thumbing through them for anything of interest as the bell above the door chimed behind you, likely signaling another tired customer who was ready to get their boba fix and go.

Leaning over your phone, Akali clicked on a picture, the selfie of Sett in a tight black shirt flexing his large biceps filling your screen.

“Focus,” you chastised her, swiping the image away.

“I don’t know how you can,” she replied. “I’m surprised you didn’t melt on the spot when he winked at you, miss kiss virgin.”

“I’m a professional, Akali,” you bristled, hoping she didn’t catch on to just how close to the mark she was. “And besides, I’m not a–”

“You won’t find any nudes, you know, but I can’t stop ya from tryin’,” an amused voice from behind you startled both you and Akali, both too consumed by your conversation to notice the large figure that had snuck up on you.

Sett grinned down at you, dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie, accessorized with the typical celebrity hat and sunglasses combo. Was he even really trying to hide who he was?

Akali recovered first, greeting Sett with a simple yo, Sett returning the greeting.

“What are you even doing here?” you hissed, locking your phone before turning back to him, his grin not dimming even in the face of your frosty reception. Didn’t he know it was your day off from him driving you nuts?

“Pickin’ up an order for me and ma,” he answered, holding up a receipt that you didn’t bother reading.

Did you have the worst luck on the planet? Now he was bound to think you were fangirling over him in your private life, a thought that made you scowl.

“We shouldn’t even be talking to you,” you insisted. “I don’t want to start having to fend off reporters’ dating rumors between you two.”

“Ugh, gross,” Akali commented from next to you.

Sett didn’t seem bothered by her comment, raising an eyebrow from under his sunglasses, smirk so easily coming to his lips. “Excluding yourself from the rumors pretty easily.”

You scoffed, openly rolling your eyes. “I’m an intern. Nobody would think we were secretly dating.”

“…that a challenge?” he countered, breaking into a loud laugh at the open shock on your face.

The staff called out his order and he strode away from you to the counter, leaving you to stare after him incredulously.

“You’re blushing,” Akali teased in your ear.

You rounded on her immediately, giving her your best glare. “You’re not helping.”

“Hey, I didn’t know he’d be here either,” she defended herself. “But seeing you two together, I’m starting to think you get along better than you’ve been telling me.”

“Head in the game, Akali,” you hissed, still very aware of the man currently collecting his order at the counter. “You still remember what he did to me, right?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she waved you off. “You’re no fun to tease lately.”

“I’ll have you know–” you started, before shutting your mouth as you heard loud footsteps heading back your way.

An arm reached over your booth, depositing a wrapped cookie in front of you, turning your head to see Sett grinning down at you.

“Pre-payment for fending off any more rumors,” he explained. “Now I’ll let you get back to your important business.”

“Thanks,” Akali laughed, clearly not taking the situation seriously.

“She tell ya about the ones we got yesterday?” Sett asked, eyes shifting from beneath his sliding sunglasses from you to Akali.

“Hasn’t stopped talking about it,” Akali grinned, the two clearly finding shared amusement at your expense.

“Akali!” you protested, knowing Sett was likely to take her words the wrong way, his wide grin telling you that he definitely had.

“See ya Monday,” he said before he finally made his way out of the café, leaving you to collapse onto the table, burying your face into your folded arms with a miserable groan.

“You’re not helping,” you spoke accusingly, staring down at the cookie, m&ms in the shape of a smiley face looking back up at you.

Akali laughed, clearly feeling no remorse. “Can you blame me? I haven’t seen you like this in years! Are you really sure he’s got some big bad motive? Just kinda seems like a himbo to me.”

How Akali could see how obnoxious Sett was and come away with that impression was beyond you, but you would accomplish your goal without her help if need be.

Monday morning was relatively stress-free for you, finding yourself sat at a desk responding to media request emails.

Most of them were an easy no, a large majority blatant or thinly-veiled attempts at getting the interview with Sett. Alune hadn’t said much about them, just to send them a generic rejection email from a template, making you wonder again if they had already come to an agreement with someone.

But when you had decided to test the waters by making a joke about forwarding her the highest bidder, she had rolled her eyes, making a comment about how nobody could make an offer worth that much drama, which confused you.

You knew very well that wasn’t true. Were they seriously not going to capitalize on this at all? The biggest scandal this year and they were just content to let the payoff slip through their fingers?

Your confusion didn’t mean that you weren’t still happy to reject all the vultures in the inbox, the menial task coming way easier to you than much of your usual idol work.

Current mission aside, it wasn’t too bad to spend some time being normal, taking a bite out of a donut you had grabbed from the office’s break room as you moved onto sorting some files for Alune.

Today’s main event for the band was a group photoshoot for their next single, followed by an in-house recording of one of the side tracks for their album, and so you were relegated to clerical work for the day, which was both relieving and frustrating.

Again, you were unable to find any dirt on the rapper, his file largely just consisting of bland industry-standard contracts, old headshots and emergency contact forms, all of which listed his mother.

Staring out the window at the busy city outside, you found yourself at a loss for what to do now. There had to be something to be found, some prize waiting for you at the end of this endeavor… but why couldn’t you just find it already so you could be done?

Your phone buzzed on the desk with a notification, drawing you out of your cyclical thoughts. Reaching out to grab the phone, you expected it to be another reaction gif from Akali in response to your last message a few minutes ago.

The message wasn’t from Akali, instead coming from a number you didn’t have in your contacts, the message preview on your screen reading hey it’s Kayn, Phel said not…

You wondered who he had gotten your number from, but clicked on the message regardless, the full message reading hey it’s Kayn, Phel said not to do it but they called him down to redo his part.

You stared at the message, trying to decipher if you were missing something, but you were coming up empty. Phel clearly meant Aphelios, as you had heard the guys call him that before, but what was this it that he wouldn’t let them do and why was it important enough to text you about?

You were attempting to formulate a response when the photo came in.

It was a selfie, taken by Kayn, as evidenced by the angle of his arm, the troublemaker making a peace sign with his other hand.

Kayn wasn’t the focal point of the picture however, most of the image taken up by Sett, who was laid back on a couch, obviously asleep. It was clear to you why Aphelios had been against the idea, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t funny.

Where had he gotten all of the teenaged girl-esque hair ties was beyond you, but Sett’s hair had been tied into at least fifteen little pigtails with an array of rainbow hair ties, his hair sticking out at all angles, looking like a school photo most people would pay to have destroyed forever.

Looking at the picture, something in you broke and you laughed out loud. How had Sett not woken up?

It took you a long moment to come back to yourself, to your mission. Something about Sett’s unguarded sleeping face had gotten to you, broken your icy walls into pieces. You were only relieved that you were alone in the office, most of the staff at an afternoon meeting.

Deciding to keep it simple, you went to reply with an lol, but before you could, another message came in, quickly turning into a flurry of messages.

he woke up and he’s madddd

he might b coming up there

i maybe said u gave me the ties

He what?

Today was supposed to be your easiest day of the week, free from having to run after the rowdy group of guys, and now Kayn was sending the worst of them straight up to you? You would have to pay Kayn back for this one.

If he was already on his way, then it was too late to hide, not like there was anything to hide in the first place. Not like you should have to hide as well; you hadn’t done anything wrong. He could come storming in here if he wanted, you wouldn’t be intimidated in the slightest.

So you picked up another file, intent on continuing what you had been doing before the interruption when the door opened.

Sett entered the room, eyes finding you easily, your plan to keep your cool splintering into pieces as you realized he still had all the hair ties in his hair.

You were only half successful at choking back the laugh that the sight brought out of you, which was definitely not going to help you plead your innocence.

“I–” you started, knowing you had to say something in your defense now that you had become the prime suspect, but you were silenced immediately by Sett holding up a hand to silence you.

“Relax,” he said, looking amused. “I know it wasn’t you.”

…oh. That had gone smoother than you had thought. But then why was he here?

Sett clearly saw the question on your face and gestured at his head with a roll of his eyes that didn’t seem like it was meant for you. “I dunno what Kayn did, but I can’t get this shit out, and they’re all laughin’ too hard to help me.”

“Oh,” you replied with a slow nod.

“…so you gonna help me?” he asked, reaching up to tug on one of the pigtails himself, wincing when all the action seemed to do was make it worse.

You briefly considered the petty option, to refuse and let him suffer, but what made your need for petty vengeance back down was the droop of his furry ears, pressed on by tightly-tied hair ties on all sides. He looked pitiful, like a kicked puppy, and unlike before, you realized that you maybe did find it just a tiny bit… cute.

Not wanting to dwell on that thought, you decided there was nothing wrong with continuing to play the part of the helpful assistant, placing the file folder back down on your desk and gesturing for Sett to sit on the couch just behind your desk.

The large man looked out of place on the small couch, so tall that he had to lean forward for you to be able to comfortably reach into his hair to start working on the knots.

Sett grunted an ouch as you set about your first one, right in the middle of his forehead, and you looked down to see his fists clenched at his sides.

“You’ll be fine,” you laughed as you managed to unravel the tie, discarding it onto the couch next to you. “See? One done already.”

“Kayn better watch his back,” he huffed, clearly attempting to stay as still as possible to let you work, his ears still drooped, the sight making you idly wonder what they would feel like to pet. “You know if Akali’d be down to just block him or somethin’?”

You laughed. “She might have beaten you to that one already. She likes to block him sometimes when he sends her too many texts in a row.”

“Ouch, watch the–”

“Ears, I know,” you cut him off, working on a sparkly pink hair tie at the base of his left ear. “How did you not wake up while they were doing this?”

“Late night,” he answered gruffly. “K’Sante said I’m still dancin’ like I’m a trainee, so…”

He cut himself off with a yawn, eyelids drooping as he did. You had had plenty of those nights yourself, especially around single releases, considering yourself an expert in not showing how tired you were by now, not that you were about to let Sett in on your big secret enough to tell him that.

“Been there on the nights before a paper is due,” you said instead, the information vague enough to fit with your cover story.

You doubted he would care enough about your fake boring student life to ask about it, so you found yourself momentarily caught off guard when he did.

“Oh yeah, never asked what you’re studyin’,” he said, tiredness plain in his voice.

“Nothing interesting,” you said as you took a few moments to settle on an answer that made enough sense. “Business administration.”

“Ah,” he grunted in understanding, head leaning further towards you as if it were getting to be too much effort to keep himself sitting upright. “Y’wanna manage us then, huh?”

“Not you guys,” you scoffed. “I’d go crazy if I had Alune’s job.”

Sett let out a low laugh, one that sounded half asleep. “Y’don’t need to anyways, not when you’re hot enough t’ be famous too…”

Your hands froze in his hair, too shocked to come up with a response to that, not that he would’ve heard it anyways. Moments after he mumbled the words, he slumped further forward, head coming to rest on your chest, which only increased the strangeness of the situation.

Not wanting to wake him up and run the risk of continuing that very strange topic of conversation, you maneuvered his heavy form as carefully as possible, laying him down on the couch. He was too tall for it, his lower legs hanging off the end, but he didn’t wake up.

With that matter settled for now, you were free to fast walk to the office’s kitchen, immediately collapsing with your back to the wall, hands over your face as you tried to process the emotions you had never felt like this before.

You were used to compliments in your work life, had gotten hundreds of them before, but you were struggling to think of a single time anyone had ever said anything like that to you when you weren’t all dressed up and in idol mode. Thinking back, you couldn’t even remember a compliment from your parents, back when you still lived with them as a child.

That had to be why you felt flustered beyond your own control right now. You were caught off guard, didn’t have your usual defense of idol pleasantries up, and his sleepy words had struck you when you hadn’t been expecting anything.

You refused to believe that he meant anything by them. Maybe he mistook you for someone else with his eyes blurry from sleepiness. Non-idol you was plain, dressed like she was still a teenager, and certainly wasn’t worthy of being noticed by anybody. It was a moment you had idly wondered about for years, if you would ever be noticed by anyone when you were just you, but why did it have to be by your worst enemy? It was all so frustrating.

Your first instinct was to text Akali, an idea that you dismissed instantly. What were you supposed to say to her anyways? I’m freaking out in the kitchen because Sett said I was hot? You’d be lucky if Akali let go of that one five years from now. No, you had to keep this embarrassing secret to yourself.

After taking a moment to yourself, you stood up, heading back to your desk, unsure of what would be waiting for you. What you found was exactly what you had left behind, Sett sleeping soundly, sprawled out on the couch, hair still riddled with colorful hair ties. He had to have been exhausted to sleep like that, his legs likely to be sore when he woke up, whenever that would be.

Looking at him, you felt your usual irritation drain from you, the sight nostalgic to you, a reminder of the days before you had adjusted to all work and no sleep. Maybe, just for now, you could choose to forget your mission, your grudge, and just allow yourself this one slip-up…

It was to repay him for the first compliment normal you had ever gotten, you reasoned as you squatted down beside him, gently resuming your work on his hair, the sleeping half-vastaya not even stirring as you began to work more ties out of his hair, discarding them on the floor next to you. Tomorrow, you would hate him again, you vowed to yourself as you looked down at his handsome face. Today, you would just be an assistant manager, helping to give a talent a moment of rest.

It was kind of strange, being the one taking care of someone for once, usually on the receiving end yourself. It wasn’t terrible, the moment feeling much more real than the face you put on for the cameras.

You thought you enjoyed what you did, you were willing to go undercover in order to save your career, so why did you chest feel so hollow at the thought of going back to your former life?

At last, you plucked the last hair tie out of his hair, the wild fuchsia left behind a complete mess, like he had been caught up in a windstorm. Lucky for him, you had a habit of keeping a mini brush on you.

Working from the ends up, you carefully sorted out the tangled mess, brushing his hair back smooth. You tried to keep the bristles from his ears, focusing on his scalp, leaving the ears for last.

“…feels good,” he mumbled as you started on one ear, startling you.

“I thought you were tired,” you grumbled, continuing to brush down his ear fur.

He cracked one eye open, looking like it was a big effort on his part. “Not when you’re brushin’ my ears like that.”

His ears twitched against his head as you let go, the fur brushed enough to look presentable now anyways.

“I didn’t say to stop,” he grumbled, eyes closing again as he attempted to maneuver his legs into a more comfortable position, which was basically impossible with how tall he was.

“Don’t you have a turn in the recording booth soon?” you asked, getting up to put the brush back in your purse, noting the fuchsia hairs dotting overtop yours in between the bristles.

“Nah,” he grumbled, raising a forearm to cover his eyes in an attempt to block out the fluorescent lights overhead. “Did my part already. They just won’t let us go home ‘til Yone’s happy with the song.”

“And how long is that going to take?” you asked, nerves still recovering. You really hoped he was too tired to remember what he had said to you just before falling asleep.

“Hours, if I’m lucky,” he answered wearily. “He can be so damn picky sometimes.”

You laughed, having been there before as well. Talking to Sett really felt like talking to a male, more muscular version of you from the past. When had you become so jaded?

“Well, if you’re staying, do you mind if I put on some music?” you asked, intent on doing it either way. You desperately needed a distraction from how aware you were that you were alone with Sett right now, even if he had no idea who you really were.

Sett grunted his lack of issue, and you put on the first playlist you found online, labelled Pop Bangers. Immediately, a catchy beat started up, which you recognized as a popular hit from last year. Pretending Sett wasn’t napping just behind you, you got back to work, humming along to the music.

You refused to look back, choosing instead to assume that Sett had fallen back asleep.

You couldn’t think of the last time you had just listened to music to relax, and not because your job required it. Maybe this break wasn’t all bad. Maybe you needed a vacation more than you knew, even if you wished it wasn’t under these circumstances.

Glancing back at the sleeping Sett, you thought back to that show taping, to that kiss.

Where would you be right now if not for that kiss? Probably doing some interview, or being on some show, being asked the same questions over and over about your new single.

Sett definitely had the power to be the final nail in your coffin; to do a tell-all interview, to ruin what was left of your reputation. It would be so easy, so why did he seem like he was doing everything he could to avoid it? You weren’t sure what to think about the fact that your worst enemy was also the one currently shielding you from further reputational harm.

Your thoughts were broken by a familiar melody filtering through the computer speakers, the intro for your third single Growing Up, the one that had finally made you popular enough to headline at the country’s biggest stadium.

But now wasn’t the time for nostalgia, not when you had avoided all mention of Meyu around Sett, not wanting to raise his suspicions, you reached for the mouse to skip the song.

“…leave it,” came Sett’s voice from behind you, freezing your hand just above the mouse.

“I, uh, hate this song,” you said in a poor attempt to explain your actions, looking back to see him raising an eyebrow at you, sitting up on the couch now.

“You really think I can’t handle a song?” he questioned, staring at you like he was searching for something in your face.

When in doubt, you fell back to your fake life. “I mean, who knows with you celebrities. I’ve heard of people being fired just for making eye contact.”

“And ya think I’m like that?” he asked, a challenge in his eyes.

“…no,” you admitted truthfully, as much as it pained you.

“Good,” he grinned, the tension in the room vanishing at once. “Besides, I like this song.”

“Oh,” you replied as the song got to the chorus, the dance that you had to practice for it taking a week to get it right. As much as you didn’t want to own up to it, his casual compliment felt nice. “I like it too.”

That weekend, you spent most of your time practicing your new single, no longer feeling the need to avoid thinking about your idol life like you had for the past two weeks. Akali had been texting you intermittently, K/DA being overseas for the weekend for a concert, but she still made the time to check in on you.

You had texted her a selfie of you mid-practice, not wanting her to worry about you when she was already so busy. You could only hope that this hard work would mean something, that your agency wasn’t just going to throw you and your single away.

You hadn’t heard anything new, just received renewed instructions to keep a low profile and stay off all your socials, which was easy enough when you were busy enough with a whole other job, one that was only getting more confusing by the day.

You felt like you were losing sight of your goal the longer you worked for the band, the more you got to know them. You had thought that you would be wearing a fake smile until you got what you wanted and got out, but thinking on it now, you hadn’t donned one in a while. As much as you loathed to own up to it, you liked the group, even Sett. Maybe even… especially Sett.

You had made the worst mistake possible. You had humanized your targets, and worse than that, you liked them, having more fun with them than you had in a long time. What were you supposed to do now?

Monday morning brought with it a surprise, everyone sitting around on the plush couches of the meeting room while Alune prepared to give a rundown of the week’s schedule.

You were sat next to Sett on what should be a three-person couch, but was more of a barely two-person couch with how big he was. You hadn’t been intending to sit next to him, your last embarrassing interaction at the forefront of your mind. But you had been late to the meeting, filing some documents at Alune’s request, and the spot next to Sett had been the only one left by the time you had gotten to the meeting.

Even then, you had been content to just stand, at least until Sett grinned at your entrance, patting the spot next to him. Not wanting to draw attention to yourself, you obeyed, very aware of Sett’s arm slung back over your section of the couch.

Ezreal’s eyes shifting from you to Sett with unspoken amusement didn’t help either. Were you just doomed to have everyone think you were dating Sett no matter what persona you were?

“Alright, so this week is a lot of radio appearances,” Alune started, listing off a few of the names, all ones you had been on tens of times. “Biggest thing this week is a performance on Music Ultimate, so we’ll be doing more rehearsals this week to prep for it.”

“We all have to?” Ezreal lamented. “Kayn’s the one that messed up the dance last time.”

“Hey!” Kayn protested. “I was freestyling!”

“I have noticed your high notes are in need of improvement as well, Ezreal,” Yone stated plainly, and then it was Ezreal’s turn to be defensive, the meeting looking like it was on the verge of descending into chaos until Sett spoke up from beside you.

“Knock it off,” he barked at his bandmates, the harsh tone in his voice stunning them into silence. “If we need more practice, then we need more practice. I don’t care whose fault it is.”

You hadn’t actually expected that to work, but it seemed Alune did, as she simply smiled and moved on with the rest of the meeting as you stared at Sett out of the corner of your eye.

It wasn’t like harsh words or tones were uncommon in your industry, but not many commanded the genuine respect that Sett’s words seemed to evoke in his bandmates.

While you had done collabs before, you had never been part of a team, a unit, so you were plainly out of your depth here. Many times over the years, you had wondered what it would be like to be like Akali or Sett, to have bandmates to go to for help, to not always stand on stage alone. It probably didn’t help that you only had Akali as your main source of friendship, reclusiveness a habit formed after so many years of having to manage two identities.

“Okay, last thing,” Alune said, probably for the best as most of the members seemed restless, waiting for the meeting to end. “K/DA is having a single release event at a club on Friday night, and we’re expected to be there as well, so I’m clearing the rest of the schedule that day so everyone will have time to get ready.”

“Sweet!” Kayn cheered. “No work and we get to party? Sign me up!”

“It is still work,” K’Sante chided him firmly. “That means no scandals.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kayn dismissed, eyes still shining with excitement.

“Think of the bright side,” Ezreal chimed in. “Akali will have a harder time ghosting you in person!”

You couldn’t help but laugh at the frown that overtook Kayn’s face, Ezreal ducking behind K’Sante to avoid retaliation while Aphelios and Yone shared pained looks.

There was no need for you to be at a label-managed event, so you would probably have that day off. Maybe you should finally watch that drama Akali had been recommending to you for the better part of a year now.

You looked up when Alune called your name.

“You don’t need to work the party, as a reward for all your hard work. Just enjoy yourself.”

“Huh? But–”

“Yeah!” Ezreal added. “Then you have a chance to wear something less… interny.”

K’Sante chimed in before you could say anything in your defence. “Surely you must own clothing that has any shape to it?”

Your mouth dropped open, the expression met with laughter from all around you, even from Sett.

“My clothes are comfy!” Was all you could think to say to K’Sante’s unimpressed stare, crossing your arms as you glared at the lot of them. “You guys are just as bad as Akali!”

“C’mon,” Sett spoke up from beside you, grinning down at you in a way you refused to acknowledge as flirty. “You could use a night off from the serious act.”

“My serious act is the only reason you guys are on time for anything!” you huffed, resigning yourself to your fate. If you tried to get out of the party now, it would only look suspicious. Any normal person in your position would be thrilled to get an invite to an event like this, so you would have to fall in line with what was expected of you this time.

It was quickly time to head to the band’s first radio appearances of the day, the group splitting up, sending one of the two leaders with each group.

Just your luck, you were sent off with Ezreal, Kayn and Sett, feeling incredibly jealous that Alune got to accompany the quieter half of the band to a behind-the-music podcast taping while you were stuck going to some obnoxious top-40’s radio station with a host you remembered as being too nosy on your last appearance. Your only consolation was that you wouldn’t be the one interviewed this time.

“Hey, gimme your number,” Sett grunted as he slid into the seat next to you, his thigh touching yours as he sat down.

“Why?” you asked, grateful that Kayn and Ezreal were busy bickering over their costumes for Music Ultimate.

Sett raised an eyebrow at you. “You got somethin’ to hide on there?”

“No,” you denied, reluctantly pulling out your phone; you had little other choice given you didn’t use this phone enough to have the number memorized.

“You sure?” he asked, leaning in, tone turning sly. “I know Kayn sent you that photo.”

You froze, and Sett laughed. “Relax, ain’t tryin’ to get you in trouble. I know you won’t leak it anyways, not unless ya want me tellin’ everyone about how you were drooling over me at that shoot.”

Your face felt hot instantly. “I wasn’t–”

You were interrupted by Ezreal asking you to choose a side in their squabble, giving Sett the opportunity to pull up your backup cellphone’s meagre contacts list, adding himself to it. When he finally handed your phone back, there was a text thread started with his newly-saved contact, his contact photo making you nearly drop your phone, which seemed to be the reaction Sett was looking for as you stared dumbstruck at his smug grin. Where he had gotten an advanced copy photo from that shoot this quickly was beyond you.

While they were being interviewed, you changed his contact photo to the picture of him sleeping with his hair all tied up, texting him a screenshot of the new contact page just to be petty.

When you got home, he texted you back a screenshot of your contact, the photo a picture of you with a pained look on your face, likely being subjected to another which of these thirty thirst trap photos is the hottest poll by Kayn. How had he taken that photo without you noticing?

If nothing else, the party should be way easier than attending one as Meyu. Nobody swarming you, trying to get a selfie or an autograph. You would be surprised if anyone even talked to you at all, a plain nobody amongst celebrities.

At least that had been your plan until Friday, when your apartment had been invaded by Akali.

“I knew you wouldn’t have any nice stuff in the non-Meyu closet,” she said, waving a shopping bag in your face. “So I got you this.”

You took the bag from her, about to look inside when your spare phone buzzed loudly from beside you on the couch. You groaned, knowing what to expect by now, but not wanting to face it.

“What?” Akali looked from you to the phone. “Your agency bugging you again?”

“Wrong phone,” you groaned, wishing it was your agency. “It’s Sett… again.”

“Again?” she questioned, eyebrow raised in interest. “I didn’t even know he had your number.”

You didn’t like what her tone was implying, but knew you should probably ask for her opinion since you were losing your mind.

“He… keeps texting me,” you said, unsure of how to fully describe the issue, Akali snatching the phone out of your hand to take a look for herself, her eyes widening the farther up she scrolled.

“And this was all since Monday?” she asked, something in her voice sounding like she knew something you didn’t.

“It’s not like that!” you protested, freezing up when she turned the phone to face you, screen displaying a mid-training selfie Sett had sent you, sweaty and shirtless as he grinned at the camera. “I don’t know why he sent that!”

“Sure…” Akali dismissed, clearly unconvinced, exiting out of the photo to read your reply out loud. “Get back to practice… girl, your flirting game needs work.”

“I wasn’t trying to flirt!” you insisted, trying and failing to snatch the phone back. “And if you remember, I hate him! I just have to reply to him to… to keep my cover up.”

“Mmhmm,” Akali hummed, staring down at you with open skepticism. “Either way, you are gonna be looking hot tonight! If not Sett, I’m sure someone there will catch your attention.”

Seeing the protest on your face, she gave you a sharp look. “And don’t give me that but I can’t bullshit. We both know you hate that no-kiss-virgin stuff. Maybe Sett did you a favor in the long run.”

“Akali!” you protested, but she would hear none of it, shooing you into your bathroom to change.

She… wasn’t exactly wrong that you hated the image your label had forced on you. You were tired of the looks, the jokes, the tabloid headlines… every other idol could date, could kiss somebody without it putting their career on hold, so why was it just you trapped in this box?

You weren’t about to thank Sett for what he had done though. In your daydreams, you had wanted to meet someone special, and then maybe your label would see that the no-kiss thing was past its expiration date. What had happened instead was a disaster, leaving no room for a private discussion at the agency, for a carefully-tailored relationship announcement. Sett’s kiss had freed you, but it had taken away your agency. Now you were just left hoping that this wouldn’t be the end of your career.

Forcing your mind off of its favorite toxic idle topic lately, you set the bag on the counter, reaching in to pull out the clothes Akali had gotten for you.

The bundle of clothes was very… black. You had some black in your normal wardrobe, but it was practically unheard of for Meyu’s typical fare.

Once it was all on, you were having a hard time recognizing yourself.

The short black dress was low-cut, with a slit up one side that exposed your skin from thigh to hip, barely covering the band of your underwear. Underneath the dress was a long-sleeved mesh shirt, black bands at the neckline and ends of both sleeves. The look was completed with a thin belt made of silver stars with a necklace to match.

After stepping into the silver strappy heels, you reluctantly opened the door to meet Akali’s appraising eye.

“Very un-Meyu,” she said with a smirk. “I like it. Now sit on the couch so I can do your makeup.”

Akali was merciless, intent on doing everything she could to make you look nothing like idol you, the look ending up being a sparkly black smoky eye and deep red lipstick. All in all, you looked hot.

“You’re really good at this,” you praised Akali as she touched up her own makeup. “Are you sure you’re not a makeup artist on the side?”

“Only to my fashion-challenged friends,” she joked, returning your smile.

“This feels strange,” you admitted. “Like we’re just two normal girls going out to the club.”

“Speak for yourself,” Akali grinned, her eyes taking on a more thoughtful light. “You should enjoy yourself. Have fun. Don’t be Meyu for a night, maybe find a cute guy, see what happens.”

“Akali…” you spoke, the sincerity in her tone touching you, making you wonder how long she had been waiting to say that to you. How long had your double life been worrying her?

“Just for one night, promise me you won’t think too much?” she asked, pleading with her eyes as well.

��Okay, I promise,” you agreed, finding yourself starting to get excited for your one night as a normal girl, no secret life or idol worries.

“Great,” she cheered, calling up a car service. “Then let’s go!”

The release event had already started by the time you had arrived, Akali having to go meet up with the rest of K/DA to make their official entrance together, leaving you only after making you promise again to enjoy yourself.

You were used to crowds, and you were used to celebrities, but nothing could prepare you for the rush of this crowd, their stares roving over you not because you were Meyu for once. It was intimidating, but at the same time, it was exhilarating. You didn’t think you would go as far as Akali seemed to think you should, but even just flirting with a guy would be a new experience for you.

If only you had been given the gift of choice in the matter.

As you looked over the dancing crowd, an arm was slung around your waist, pulling you back into a firm male body, their breath over your shoulder smelling strongly of alcohol.

“You look good, baby,” the man rasped in your ear, making a clumsy attempt to kiss at your neck as you tried to pry his arm off of you, turning your head to get a better look at him.

You didn’t recognize the man, but he looked rich, likely the son of someone wealthy or famous enough to get him an invite to this exclusive of a party.

“What’s the problem, baby?” he said, refusing to take his arm off you, his hand now creeping concerningly upwards on your torso, a jolt of alarm running through you at just how close his hand was getting to your chest.

“Get off of me!” you shouted, looking around for help, but nobody seemed to be paying any attention to you, your voice unable to be heard over the music. “Get the hell–”

His hand that had been about to touch your breast was ripped away from you in an instant, a large figure putting himself between you and the creep.

“Fuck you, man!” the creep shouted, red-faced with either anger or alcohol, cradling his hand to his chest. “We were just having some fun!”

“Fun?” the man snarled at him, the anger in his voice surprising you. “Didn’t look like it to me. Looked like you thought you could put your little rich boy hands on whatever you want. Shit like that gets you thrown outta places like this.”

You couldn’t see what expression the stranger had on his face, but it seemed to scare the man, who threw an insult at his face before rushing into the crowd to escape.

That… was really close to being really bad. You had thought you could handle yourself, and here you were, left shaken barely five minutes into your first non-Meyu club experience.

The man turned to face you, the thank you dying on your lips as you caught sight of his face, cursing yourself for not making the connection earlier.

To his credit, Sett looked equally shocked as he got a good look at you. Dressed in a tight black t-shirt and jeans, he looked every part of a normal club-goer, only the stunned look on his face out of place.

“Thanks,” you replied shyly, stepping closer to him, very aware that your self-declared enemy had just come to your rescue.

“You, uh, look good,” he said, looking out of his element, and unlike when they were said by that creep, you found that you didn’t mind the compliment coming from Sett. “And, uh, no problem. Guy must have forgot his manners back at his daddy’s mansion or something.”

“If he had any to begin with,” you replied, finding a common enemy helped you to let go of your awkwardness, waving back at K’Sante who had noticed you from across the crowd. “When did you guys get here?”

“’bout an hour ago,” Sett groaned, leading you over to one of the couches that lined the walls of the room, slumping down on one like he had just worked a full shift.

You sat down next to him, your eyes on the crowd that you weren’t especially eager to rejoin, knowing that creep was somewhere in it. “Long hour?”

“Yeah,” he grunted, slouching in his seat. “I ain’t made for this, suckin’ up to rich people they invite to stuff like this who only wanna use me.”

“Yeah, I doubt you’re going to get a good review from at least one rich guy here tonight,” you commented, turning your head to face him, his lips turning downwards at the mention of the creepy guy. “But thanks again. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t stepped in.”

Just the thought revolted you. Nobody dared to try that behavior with you as Meyu, the worst you had dealt with being gross comments. But right now, you weren’t Meyu, and you didn’t have the protection usually afforded to her. Part of you hated owing Sett, but it was clear to you that you did.

“Next time, just kick him in the balls,” Sett suggested, jaw clenched with anger that you didn’t understand. “Men like him piss me off. Ma’d cut my ears off if I ever even thought of treatin’ a woman like that.”

As you stared at Sett, you wondered. And continued to wonder as he was pulled away and into the crowd to make more appearances with the group, leaving you with distaste clear on his face, plastering on a smile as Kayn slung an arm around his shoulders, clubgoers swarming them as soon as they entered the crowd.

Nothing made sense to you right now. You had never felt so lost, staring at Sett’s back until his figure was consumed by the crowd.

He was a monster, a cruel, selfish fame-chaser who had crushed your career beneath his boot. That was what you had believed, the motivation you had clung to in order to take your revenge… but where did that leave you now?

Sett had been standoffish to you at first, but the more time you spent with him, the less you found to hate. He cared about his bandmates, seemed to dote on his mom, and above all, he hadn’t said one word to anyone about that kiss, now weeks in the past. But if Sett wasn’t a monster, then where did that leave you? What had all of this been for?

You were so lost in your own swirling thoughts that you didn’t notice Akali coming until she sat down next to you.

“Kali… have I just been an idiot this whole time?” you asked quietly, afraid to hear her answer but knowing that you had to ask.

Akali sighed through her nose, looking at you with eyes that told you she knew exactly why you were asking, which knowing her, she did. “I was wondering when this conversation would happen.”

“For how long?” you asked shakily, knowing that you were talking about the same thing but scared to say it out loud.

Akali hummed as she considered her answer. “Since boba.”

“What?” But that had been barely a week into this whole charade. “But how did you…”

“…know he was a good guy?” she finished for you, though you weren’t sure if you would have phrased it that way. “Easy. Vibes.”

You groaned, face sinking into your hands as you tried to come to terms with all the pieces you were trying to put together. Her words were short, but infallible. Akali’s intuition was second to none, and you knew better than to doubt it by now.

“But he has to be the worst,” you insisted desperately, emotions overtaking you as you felt your eyes burn with incoming tears. “If he’s not, then why did I do all of this? Was there no point to any of this from the start?”

“No guy who makes a boba run for his mom would sell you out like that for fame,” Akali stated, and you hated how easily you agreed with her.

If you finally allowed yourself to look objectively at Sett, the picture looked so different. He was kind and caring, a force that banded his groupmates together with his earnestness. He had made you laugh, protected you, flirted with you… made you like him. Genuinely like him, as impossible as you had always thought that would be.

But that still left one question, the one you had already decided you knew the answer to when this all had started.

“Then why did he kiss me?”

“Don’t know,” Akali said with a shrug. “That’s something you’ll have to ask him.”

“I can’t,” you protested immediately. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“C’mon, where’s that Meyu confidence?” Akali said, trying her best to bolster your spirits. “I think you should talk to him. Ask him why. Then maybe you can finally let this go.”

You hated that she was right, but you found yourself wanting desperately to know why. Why would he kiss Meyu and then say nothing about it? Why would he flirt with you like he had forgotten Meyu existed? You had so many questions, and only he had the answers.

You were granted some mercy, as Akali had to get up for a special joint performance with Heartsteel on the stage in the center of the room, your eyes drawn immediately to Sett’s large figure. You felt like a teenager again as you stared at him, all of your years becoming detached from things like crushes evaporating as he struck his starting pose.

You didn’t know what to do with yourself, not able to sit still but not wanting to approach Sett here. The need to know was burning in you by the time Sett found you again, flanked by Alune and K’Sante, who was supporting most of his fellow leader’s weight on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry to make you work tonight,” Alune apologized, gesturing with her eyes to Sett, who was staring at you with hazy eyes. “But could you take him home? I’ll text you his address.”

“Mm’fine,” Sett muttered indignantly.

“You are not,” K’Sante rebuffed, sending you an apologetic smile. “Kayn was dishonest with him regarding the alcohol content of a drink he gave him.”

“Got it,” you said, accepting the task. It was for the best anyways, clubs were clearly not for you, and it wasn’t likely that you were going to work up the courage to ask him tonight anyways.

You texted Akali the situation before heading outside with Sett and K’Sante, who helped you get Sett into a taxi before heading back inside.

Unfortunately for you, Sett didn’t seem content to sit silently, leaning heavily into you, his hazy eyes fixed on your face.

“I wanna tell ya…” he slurred, looking like it was taking a lot to focus on his words. You hoped Alune was back there giving Kayn an earful.

“You can tell me when we get to your place,” you said, very aware of the silent cab driver, not wanting to be kicked out if he thought Sett was getting rowdy.

“It’s you, it’s just you…” he mumbled, still making no sense.

He still wasn’t making much sense by the time you pulled up to a small unassuming house. You weren’t familiar with the neighborhood, but it didn’t look anything like the glitzy condo you were expecting him to live in.

It was a struggle to get the swaying half-vastaya out of the car, and even more of a struggle to fish his keys out of his tight pants pocket, wanting to collapse upon entering the house.

Now that he was home, your job was done, but Sett wasn’t about to let you go home, seeming intent on getting out what he wanted to say.

“Just you,” he stressed, leaning back against the hallway wall, his eyes focused on you. “You never asked, makes me wanna tell ya.”

“You should probably lay down,” you suggested gently, paying no mind to his rambling.

“‘bout Meyu,” he finished, freezing you in your tracks, hand on the doorknob as you had prepared to leave.

He was drunk, and a good person probably wouldn’t take advantage of his drunk honesty, but you couldn’t bring yourself to give this chance up if he was offering it.

“I need to sit down,” he grumbled, and you let go of the doorknob and followed him into a small living room, hands nervously clenched into fists at your sides.

Sett sat on the couch, lazily patting the seat beside him before bringing his hand up to his temples as if he could massage his thoughts back into coherency.

You sat down next to him, trying to push back the urge to wipe your sweaty palms on your dress. It was all too much, having to admit to yourself that maybe you didn’t hate Sett as much as you had tried to make yourself believe, and now being on the cusp of getting the answer you had tricked yourself into thinking you didn’t need… and you had no idea what he was going to say.

Sett let out a long weary sigh before beginning.

“I love her,” he spoke up, before shaking his head and correcting himself. “Loved her.”

“What?” You froze, not expecting those words. “What are you–”

“She was there,” he insisted, as if he wasn’t missing a lot of words in his explanation. “After he ran off, me’n ma used t’ watch…”

He wasn’t making a lot of sense, the alcohol clearly getting to his head.

“Who left?” you asked. You didn’t remember ever meeting Sett before, so you chose instead to focus elsewhere, hoping you hadn’t just walked yourself into a stalker situation.

Sett’s face looked angry as your question registered in his brain. “My pa. Fuckin’ left us when I was a kid. Ain’t gonna come back either, don’t care what mamma says…”

Oh… You felt bad about suspecting him now, knowing the loss of a parental figure all too well. Even if yours were technically in your life, or at least the contacts list in your phone, they might as well be out of your life entirely for as little as you talked to them.

But then how did this all connect to Meyu? Luckily for you, Sett seemed happy to oblige your silent question with more drunken rambling.

“Me ‘n ma used to watch her shows,” he explained, staring down at his lap now. “Ma used to bug me ‘bout havin’ a crush on Meyu. Said I should bring her home to meet her.”

“So then on Do You Kiss…?” you prompted, needing to hear him say it.

Sett groaned, slumping back into the couch, head resting on the back. It took him a long moment to answer, his eyes meeting yours at last, what looked to you like regret swirling in his green eyes.

“I was stupid,” he admitted. “Thought I’d miss my only chance, so I went for it. Didn’t wanna wreck her career, didn’t want any of this… just always wanted to kiss her.”

You were stunned and flustered, not knowing what to focus on first, but above all, you were relieved. Relieved that he wasn’t the nefarious monster you had pinned him as, sitting there on your couch scrolling through the immediate aftermath of the kiss.

Before you could put voice to any of your questions, Sett continued.

“Now I just feel like such a dumbass,” he lamented, looking at you with pained eyes. “Don’t think I loved her like I thought I did.”

You hated how much your chest twinged with pain at his words. Was this your first confession and rejection in one? You had never wanted to be a normal girl more, feeling like Meyu was holding your tongue, unable to just say what you wanted to.

Nobody knew, nobody but Akali. It wasn’t an easy feat to tell someone your deepest, darkest secret, certainly not to Sett in this moment of vulnerability.

You were so caught up in your own thoughts that you didn’t notice Sett move, not until his hand touched your shoulder and you realized his face was right in front of your own.

His brief glance down at your lips told you all you needed to know about his intentions, the realization long enough for you to pull away, to turn him down, but you didn’t, so he kissed you.

Your second kiss was so much better now that you had seen it coming. This time, it was easy to close your eyes, to meet his tongue with yours, to slide a hand into his hair as you kissed, Sett letting out a low groan when your nails scraped against one furry ear.

Sett pulled back from the kiss, and you felt yourself chase his lips until he spoke again, eyes focused on your face.

“You’re tough, you don’t kiss ass… and you’re fuckin’ cute when you’re mad,” he spoke, leaning down to kiss lazily at your neck, voice low and just below your ear. “Don’t think I really loved Meyu, not like with you.”

You froze up, mouth open but unable to come up with a response to the sudden confession. It almost seemed unreal that he could prefer you over Meyu; boring, unfashionable you wasn’t on anyone’s radar, not even your own parents.

You had never felt like this before, the feeling rivalling headlining a solo concert, but this time for an audience of one.

Before you had a chance to say anything in return, you were pressed into the couch by Sett’s body. A glance at his face told you that the alcohol had finally overtaken him, the large half-vastaya passed out on you, body weighing you into the couch.

This… was probably for the best. You had lost your head a little as you and Sett had made out, but now with him collapsed against you, fast asleep, you had a chance to think more clearly.

He was drunk. Would he even remember doing any of this tomorrow? Would he… regret it?

He was barely conscious as you dragged him down the hallway and into the first bedroom you found, which you assumed to be his based on the size of the bed and the poster of Meyu above his computer. You felt embarrassed anew as you thought of Sett sitting at that desk, looking up at your face all this time.

Shaking off the thoughts for now, you maneuvered the grumbling Sett into bed, intent on heading out right after, at least until you were yanked back into bed and caged against Sett’s chest, his arms around you and steady heartbeat against your ear.

“Stay here,” he muttered against your ear, though he wasn’t giving you much of a choice with his arms keeping you tight to him.

“You’re drunk,” you tried to reason with him, your lead worry at the moment rising to the surface against your will. “You won’t even remember this tomorrow.”

“Don’t matter,” Sett retorted gruffly, nuzzling his face against your hair, sounding like he was falling asleep again as he spoke. “Don’t matter, just… stay.”

“…Sett? Sett!”

Try as you might, he didn’t seem like he was going to be waking up again until morning, and given you weren’t strong enough to pry yourself from his arms, it seemed like you would be too.

You tried everything, the best you were able to do being rotating yourself to face the door, Sett’s arms pulling you back against his body the second you felt you had any shot at escape.

This was so beyond your paygrade. You had never so much as had a boyfriend before, let alone slept in the same bed as one. And it wasn’t like he was your boyfriend after one drunk half-confession, not that you were even sure if that would fly with your agency after all that had happened. And you had yet to fully consider what you wanted to do, though you had ample time now for that, you supposed.

Now that you weren’t so busy hating him, you were feeling overwhelmed by the rush of emotions you felt with Sett’s warm body at your back, looking down at the arm he had wrapped tightly around you. This felt nice. Really nice. So nice that you were afraid that it would all disappear tomorrow when he was sober and realized what a mistake it was for him to choose you over Meyu.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to pretend just for tonight that you were just a normal girl sleeping over at her boyfriend’s house.

The more you pictured Sett as your boyfriend, the more you wanted it to be real. But that still left your whole double life thing; how would he react to the fact that you had been essentially lying in wait, trying to find dirt on him that didn’t seem to exist. Would he even want to be with you, given all that? You would have to return to your life as Meyu eventually, and there would be no hiding that from him.

But for now, you closed your eyes, snuggling back into his hold.

You woke up to an insistent buzzing, realizing with sudden clarity just where you were, the only difference being that Sett had rolled onto his back, freeing you from his hold.

The buzzing picked up a bit and you leaned over the bed to grab your purse from the floor, fishing through it to see what Akali was phoning you about, only to find the buzzing coming from your work phone.

You stared wide-eyed at the screen reading your manager’s name, brain temporarily unable to process the information in front of you. He hadn’t phoned you once in the past few weeks, just occasional texts updating you that nothing had changed.

A phone call meant a decision had been made, and you had no idea if it would be good or bad news. As you silently panicked, the call dropped, the screen displaying you had four missed calls from him, his urgency to reach you putting you further on edge.

Glancing behind you, you found Sett still asleep, though now minus his shirt, which he seemed to have tossed across the room sometime during the night. The sight of him laying shirtless on his blanket was too much for you to take, electing instead to get out of bed as quietly as possible, scooping up your bag and exiting into the hallway just as your phone vibrated with another call from your manager.

“Hello?” you answered as you made your way back to the living room.

“Finally!” he said, sounding exasperated. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for an hour now! Are you home?”

“I’m at Akali’s,” you lied smoothly, just in case he was waiting outside your place for something. “What’s going on?”

“Huh, Akali, okay, that’s fine,” he muttered to himself before getting back on track. “Higher ups think the news has finally died down enough that we can launch your single next week.”

You felt a rush of relief, slumping down on the couch as you hummed a response, guessing correctly that he had yet to get to the point of his urgency yet.

“We’re planning on doing a surprise 30-second preview on the radio today, but the station is asking for an intro from you to play before it,” he explained, nothing you hadn’t done before, usually in studio. “But the higher-ups don’t want you making personal appearances until next week, so we got the okay to record one over the phone.”

“Right now?” you asked, glancing back at the hallway that led to Sett’s room, hesitant to bring out the Meyu voice with him so close by.

“They need it within the hour,” he stressed, forcing your hand. By the time you would be able to get home, the deadline would have passed. With no other option, you were forced to agree.

“Hey, it’s Meyu and you’re about to listen to my new single Shy Boy, exclusively on Star Radio!” you recited, waiting for your manager’s approval.

“Great!” he said, sounding relieved that you had gotten it on the first take. “Keep up your practice next week, because we’ll be scheduling your debut performance on Music Ultimate the week after next.”

He excused himself speedily after, needing to immediately forward the soundbite over to the station for editing, leaving you alone in the living room with your buzzing thoughts. At least you thought you were alone until you heard a clang of metal from your left, sounding like two pans being knocked together.

Immediately on alert, you stood up, staring at the sliver of kitchen you could see from your position, trying not to freak out. Did Sett have roommates? You wracked your brain for the information, coming up blank. Maybe the noise was just the wind somehow? At least that was your train of thought until a woman stepped into view with a soft apology.

“I didn’t mean to disturb you,” she spoke, looking regretful as you stared at her, fear abating as you took her in.

She was roughly mom-aged, with long lilac hair and a matching pair of ears that sloped down the sides of her head, tips turning to a deep violet color. She was dressed in a collared white dress, holding a bowl and spoon in her hands with a guilty look on her gracefully beautiful face.

“Settrigh doesn’t know, does he?” she asked with a small smile.

“What?” you asked without thinking, nothing making sense.

“I will not tell him,” she promised, smiling at you like she knew you. “Girls have our secrets, after all. Though I have been telling him how long I wanted to meet you for, I did not really think it would ever happen.”

Did she think you were dating Sett?

You should probably deny it, for Sett’s sake at least, but you didn’t know what to say in the face of her kind smile.

“Come here,” she invited. “We can talk. I just started on the pancakes.”

“Uh…”

What you should do is make a quick retreat, never mention any of this again and go back to your life as Meyu, the thought of your idol life making you realize the full truth of her words. So she had heard you, which meant you couldn’t really refuse her invitation.

Nodding silently, you timidly followed her into the kitchen, hoping that you hadn’t just blown your double life to pieces.

The woman stood at the counter of the kitchen, gesturing for you to sit at the small table, flanked by four chairs. The kitchen was small but homey, much like the rest of the house. It looked lived-in, like this was a place of love, unlike the cold home you had grown up in, the kitchen only used by you when you were old enough to make your own meals.

The woman set the bowl down, washing her hands before sitting opposite you at the table, her gentle smile helping to settle your nerves.

“I’m Ciorah,” she introduced herself. “Settrigh’s mother.”

That… made a lot of sense. And Sett had mentioned something about his mother yesterday during his drunken confession. But wait, did that mean she had been here last night too, when you and Sett had been on the couch together?

“We have a tradition,” she spoke up, unaware of your inner turmoil. “Since he was a child, I would make him blueberry pancakes every Saturday morning. Settrigh likes to sleep in so I just let myself in.”

Well, that relieved part of your stress, not having to worry that Sett’s mom might have seen you making out with her son on the couch. But that brought another question to mind; while the house wasn’t huge, it seemed a little big for just one person, not to mention altogether too neighborhoody for a celebrity.

“Do you not live here too?” you asked.

Ciorah laughed, eyes crinkling with amusement. “He worries about me living in this old neighborhood, so he bought me an apartment in another area. He just does not want to let go of this old house just yet, no matter how many times I fuss over him living here alone.”

“He sounds like a good son,” you commented.

With how brash he could be, you were surprised to see how sweet and gentle his mother was. She seemed like what anyone would want in a mother. You would give anything to have a mother that worried about you, that cared enough to make you pancakes even one time.

“Are you alright?” Ciorah asked, and you blinked, not having realized just how close to tears you had come, seeing what you had never had right in front of you.

“I’m fine,” you said, knowing that you didn’t sound fine and feeling like you needed to give her some sort of explanation for your sudden dip in mood. “Just, uh, this is all so nice. I never had much of a relationship with my parents.”

“Oh, I am sorry to hear that,” she responded with genuine sympathy, making you realize you should probably clarify that they weren’t dead, realizing how your careless words must have sounded to her.

“They’ve just been overseas for years,” you explained hurriedly. “It’s nothing bad, I’m sorry. I just don’t think they ever wanted a kid. It’s okay though, I’m used to it by now.”

She shook her head. “I can see my Settrigh has only made things harder for you. I cannot imagine that you would appear in his life so soon after that television show for no reason.”

“I, uh–” How could you tell Sett’s mom to her face about your half-baked revenge plot? You weren’t blind, you could see how insane you would look to anyone else.

Ciorah smiled at you, a smile that held no judgment or malice. “I am not upset with you, my dear. If anything, Settrigh has earned a little recompense in return for what he has done. I won’t tell him about any of this, so how about I be your substitute mother for this moment and you tell me what has happened?”

“I…” It was tempting; you had never been the kind of person to confide in people, but at the same time, you felt comforted by her motherly energy. She had done nothing to you, hadn’t threatened to expose your secret, hadn’t yelled at you when she had every right to for how suspicious you had been.

And more than anything, you found yourself wanting just once to feel like you could have a mother-daughter talk, an experience you had dreamed about so many times over the years. It was that feeling that moved your tongue, opening up to her about everything.

For your own peace of mind, you left the making out on the couch part of your story out, but didn’t hold back on much else.

“…I guess I just wanted him to be a villain so badly that I was blind to the truth,” you admitted. “I went way overboard, I know.”

Ciorah sighed, shaking her head. “You are not to blame. I gave Settrigh an earful when I saw what he had done on that show.”

“You did?” you asked, finding it hard to believe.

“I did,” she confirmed with a giggle. “But I did not need to. He told me he has asked his agency to make a statement putting the fault on all him, but they would not agree. I know I am his mother, but I know that he is truly sorry for what he did.”

“I believe you,” you said. “He said as much last night.”

You were surprised as she reached across the table to take your hand in hers, wondering to yourself if this is what your mother would do if she had ever cared about you.

“I have always wanted a daughter,” she admitted with a smile. “But I understand if you would like to go back to your normal life. My son will just have to accept the consequences of his thoughtless actions.”

You could see why she would assume you’d want to be rid of him, of everything that had happened to you since that show taping. You didn’t even know how he would take the you being Meyu thing, let alone if there was even a way for you and Sett to date, given your agency’s likely vendetta against him. But even considering all that, you didn’t want to just walk away from him without ever telling him your secret.

“I think I should tell him, when he wakes up,” you said, resolved now that you had chosen a course of action. “He deserves to know.”

Ciorah nodded, glancing towards the kitchen doorway before turning back to you, a strange glint in her eye. “I understand your feelings, but I have a suggestion.”

You stared at her, not having any idea what she would say next.

“I may just be a meddling mother who watches too many dramas, but I think you should return some of the grief he has given you,” she said, smiling conspiratorially. “Come to him as Meyu and tell him that you have feelings for him.”

“But he said that he realized he doesn’t like Meyu like that,” you rebuffed, not understanding how getting rejected as Meyu would help you at all.

“That is my point,” she giggled. “Then you will get his most honest thoughts. Make him turn down Meyu in order to earn your forgiveness.”

Was Sett’s mother really suggesting that you lay a trap for her son?

“…and you’re sure you’re really his mother?” you asked, incredulity on full display.

“I have told Settrigh many times to treat women with respect,” she explained simply. “I do not see anything wrong with reminding him why that is important.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” you acknowledged, allowing yourself to smile back at her. “But I’m not even sure if my agency will let us date, as much as I… want to.”

“I cannot say I understand the industry,” she said carefully. “But I know my son will do everything he can to protect you. He may not tell me everything, but I know his heart.”

“I’m glad you were here,” you told her, meaning every word. “It’s nice to feel like I have a real mom for a bit.”

“And you are just as sweet as you seem on T.V.,” she replied happily. “Your parents should be ashamed for treating such a sweet girl like they have. As far as I am concerned, you are welcome on our pancake Saturdays as long as you would like to be. Just let me know if Settrigh does anything like that again and I will pinch his ear so hard that he will wish he was born without ears!”

You laughed, tension fully dissolved as Ciorah took up mixing the pancake batter again, the domestic scene one you had never experienced for yourself before. You had gotten used to being lonely, but deep down, you had always wanted this. So as awkward as it would be to have pancakes with Sett and his mom the night after he drunkenly confessed to you, you stayed.

You had been watching Ciorah skillfully flip pancakes when Sett burst through the doorway, his eyes finding you immediately, so frantic that he had missed the other person in the room entirely.

For a moment, you just stared at each other. You tried to search his face for exactly how much of last night he remembered, but he wasn’t giving anything away. His stare was so intense and you desperately wanted to know if it was for the reason you suspected or not.

“Don’t just stand in the doorway, Settrigh,” Ciorah scolded him gently, his head whipping to her and confirming clearly to you that he hadn’t noticed she was here too.

“…ma?”

“Pancakes are almost ready,” she told him simply. “Can you set the table for three?”

Sett looked thrown off, but obeyed his mother and made his way over to a cabinet, Ciorah winking at you while his back was turned. Seemed that she also found her son’s stupor amusing. You knew Akali would want to hear about all of this later, mentally preparing yourself for the meeting the in-laws jokes you knew would be coming your way.

You looked up as a plate was set in front of you, Sett still looking lost as he handed you a fork and knife, the utensils and plates all printed with dainty purple flowers. It didn’t seem like Sett had changed anything about the kitchen since his mom had moved out, her touch obvious, especially in the matching flower-patterned tablecloth that you were sure Sett hadn’t been the one to purchase.

Sett sat down across from you when he was finished setting the table, both of you clearly unable to think of something to say.

You were a strange trio, Sett shirtless with messy hair, and you still in your clothes and likely-smudged makeup from last night. Yet none of it seemed to phase his mom at all as she put a plate of pancakes down in the center of the table before taking her own seat.

“Your sweet friend has been telling me all about all the trouble you have been causing her,” Ciorah chided her son, who shot you a suspicious glance before answering, probably wondering exactly what you had told her. Meanwhile, you studied his face as if his expression would reveal to you just how much of last night he remembered.

“Sorry, ma,” he answered, the words sounding like he had said them to her often.

“Not to me!” she insisted sternly, gesturing to you with one delicate motion of her hand.

Sett seemed reluctant to shift his gaze to you, but couldn’t seem to disobey his mom, and so his eyes met yours long enough to say the single word.

“…sorry.”

You laughed at the awkward face he was making, and his cheeks flushed as he broke his eyes away from yours, choosing instead to start stacking pancakes on his plate.

“He can be quite shy with girls,” Ciorah explained to you, Sett immediately stiffening up across from you, hand freezing on the way to grab another pancake, while his mom continued, willfully oblivious. “Settrigh has never brought a girl here for me to meet before, so this is quite a lovely surprise.”

“Ma, it ain’t–” Sett started, until a fierce look overtook her features, the two having a silent conversation, one that ended in him relenting, slumping back down in his seat. “…isn’t like that,” he corrected himself.

So her objection had been on the word ain’t? You couldn’t help but find his response adorable. Ciorah hadn’t mentioned Sett’s father, but it was clear to you how much he respected her.

“We do not need to get into all the details now,” she teased him. “The pancakes will get cold if we just sit here talking. Now let me get yours ready.”

Ciorah reached across the table and snatched his plate of haphazardly-stacked pancakes from him before he had a chance to react.

Sett looked uncharacteristically frazzled as he made a grab to get the plate back, his mom holding it just out of his reach with a conspiratorial smile your way that you didn’t understand the meaning behind.

You were quickly enlightened, watching Sett’s expression grow more and more mortified as his mom began to draw a heart with whipped cream on the top pancake, filling in the heart with several scoops of sugared strawberries in syrup, the end result looking like something that would be a popular item for women in cafés to order.

Ciorah smiled knowingly, setting the plate back down in front of her son, who couldn’t make eye contact with either of you.

“Would you like me to make a plate for you as well, dear?” she turned to ask you.

“Yes please!” you agreed readily, turning to see Sett staring at you, his plate ignored. “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you eating your pancakes?”

Your faux-innocent tone had his furry ears flattening against his head immediately as he looked between you and his mother, eyes narrowing with suspicion. “…there somethin’ I’m missing here?”

It wasn’t like you hadn’t been keeping him in the dark since you had met him as this version of you, but it was a strange feeling to have this own mother be your accomplice, encouraging you to deceive him one last time.

“That is a secret between us girls,” Ciorah giggled, placing your matching decorated pancakes in front of you.

They looked so good, even better knowing the motherly love that was behind them. So as you took your first bite, you resolved yourself to make sure the plan succeeded, wondering if Sett would react like she had predicted.

You had excused yourself after breakfast, with the excuse of letting Sett get some rest. Ciorah didn’t let you go without giving you a long hug and sending you off with a large Tupperware of baked goods she had originally brought for Sett.

Sett had walked you out, apologizing for his mom’s insistence with a sorry, ma can get like that sometimes, before adding that her sweet rolls were always his favorite.

I didn’t mind, you had told him before parting ways, not wanting to get into all the reasons why just yet. Not until you finally told him the truth and heard what he had to say, knowing everything you had been hiding.

You had been too swept up by Ciorah to think more about how Sett would react. She seemed so certain that he would react positively, and he had drunkenly confessed to you last night, but that was still no guarantee he would want anything to do with you once you came clean about all your lies.

You tried to think about what you would do if this happened to you, hesitating to ponder the subject more when you realized just how much you would hate deceit at this level being revealed to you. And here you were, asking him to accept something you would have a hard time with if you were in his position. You had taken his original wrong and tripled it, finding yourself so in over your head that you weren’t sure if you would find his forgiveness at any level.

“You’re overthinking it,” Akali dismissed as you regaled her with the story over the phone. “I don’t think he’s like that. And besides, he fucked up first.”

You could always trust Akali to be in your corner, even when you felt like you didn’t deserve it.

“What if he just thinks I’m crazy?” you asked in a small voice, phone vibrating with a text as you spoke, pulling the phone back from your ear to look at the message. “Oh god, I’m such a bad person, Kali. He just texted me a picture of his mom’s handwritten pancake recipe.”

“So?” she countered. “I think his mom’s right, he’s clearly down bad. I don’t think he’s going to take the news bad anyways.”

“I still think he’s going to back out of the room slowly and call the nearest mental hospital,” you insisted pessimistically.

“No, what he’s gonna do is think wow, my super hot assistant manager is also my favorite super hot idol,” she hit back, forcing a laugh from you with her Sett impression, expertly slicing your gloom in half. “He’s not gonna care. I’ll bet boba for a month he won’t.”

“But what if he–”

“Just relax,” Akali cut in, stopping another series of nervous rambles from you. “It’s no big deal. You’re just confessing your feelings to the first guy you’ve ever loved.”

“Akali!”

You didn’t have to wait long for the opportunity to execute your plan, which was both bad and good for your nerves. Sett had a solo appearance on a talk show’s freestyle rap segment, an easy enough job that you were sent with him alone to it, a gym bag full of your Meyu stuff at your side, excusing the bag away as your stuff for going to the gym after the job was done.

Sett had been none the wiser as he headed off to get his makeup done before he would be sent back to the dressing room to await his call time. As the door closed behind him, you couldn’t help but wonder if that would be your last interaction before he told you to get out of his life.

You really hated being nervous. You were never nervous, the aching in your chest now pounding like you had been stabbed.

With traitorously shaking hands, you unzipped your bag, the muscle memory quickly kicking in as you got into Meyu mode, soon staring into bright blue contacts in the dressing room mirror. You looked like you should be going to guest on a show, headline a concert… all things that sounded way easier to you than what you had actually gotten dressed up for this time.

Once you were ready, you hid the gym bag with your things behind the couch, settling yourself on the tall barstool in front of the vanity, doing your best to psych yourself up for what was to come.

You sat on that stool for twenty-five agonizing minutes before the door opened at last, straightening your posture and doing your best to banish all your nerves.

“Hey, did Kayn text–”

Sett’s voice cut out as he caught sight of you and you felt your idol mask slip fully into place as you caught sight of the shock plain on his face. The game was on.

“Close the door,” you told him in your Meyu voice, doing your best to sound casual and seductive.

Sett silently obeyed, slowly closing the door behind him, still looking like his brain had short-circuited, which brought a smile to your face.

“Your little assistant let me in,” you told him, standing up, Sett tensing up like he was trapped in a cage with a wild animal.

“Where’s–” he tried to ask, but you cut him off, even as you were secretly happy that he was asking about you even with Meyu right in front of him.

“Doesn’t matter,” you said, coming to a stop before him, too close for him to possibly misinterpret the situation. “I told her I wanted to talk to you in private about something very important.”

Sett looked like he wanted to say something, but you didn’t give him the chance, putting your all into the performance, needing to see him reject Meyu fully and completely.

“I’ve been thinking about you, you know,” you said, pleased by how tense Sett felt as you ran a hand up his arm. “About that kiss. And I think we’d make a cute couple.”

You desperately hoped you were reading the uncomfortable-seeming expression on his face right, trying not to look too eager as he stepped back and out of your grip, flattening his back against the door.

“Meyu, I… this ain’t a good idea,” he said, sounding more uncomfortable than you’d ever heard him sound.

“Why not?” you pouted, crossing your arms as you played your part. “You obviously like me… or did you just kiss me for the attention?”

“No!” he insisted strongly, eyes wild with panic. “That ain’t it, it’s just, uh…”

“Just what?” you insisted angrily. “If you don’t like me and you didn’t kiss me for attention, then why? You nearly destroyed my career, and now you’re rejecting me?”

You had to admit it felt too good to get those initial feelings out, even if you didn’t really hold them against him anymore.

Sett’s expression morphed from uncomfortable to regretful in front of your eyes. You watched his frame slump before you, but kept up eye contact as he began to speak, your heart clenching as you hoped desperately to hear him say what you wanted to hear most.

“…I was bein’ stupid,” he said at last with a resigned sigh. “I thought I loved you, but I didn’t even know you. I just built the moment up in my head before I ever thought about how you’d feel. You have every right to hate my guts right now.”

“…what if I don’t?” you replied quietly, Sett’s eyes going wide. “What if I still want us to date?”

Sett looked genuinely pained, but this was necessary. You needed him to tell Meyu what he had told you that night at his house.

Sett finally broke eye contact then, staring down at the floor. “…I can’t.”

“Why?” you insisted, doing your best to push him for the answer you wanted to hear, the one his mother and Akali were so sure he would give. Silently, you begged Sett to stop being so stubborn.

Sett leaned back against the door so heavily that you were surprised the wood didn’t creak under his weight. You backed up a few steps, giving him space as you waited for him to gather his thoughts.

The longer he stayed silent, the more unnerved you felt. Should you just give up the act now, come clean and beg for his mercy? Was this all just a dumb idea that was destined to fail from the start?

“I’d take the kiss back if I could,” he admitted at last. “And I’ll take whatever punishment would make you feel like we’re even, don’t give a damn what my agency says.”

You let out an even breath in place of a sigh, not wanting to give yourself away, unable to resist the urge to push him just a little further.

“And if I said the punishment was to be my boyfriend?” you prompted.

Sett shook his head. “That’d only be a punishment for you. Couldn’t shackle ya to a boyfriend who’s in love with someone else.”

His words hit you straight in the chest, knowing you were on the cusp of hearing his feelings, sober this time.

“You deserve someone who’ll treat you like a person, not some jackass like me who thought he was in love with a girl on T.V.,” he added, trying clumsily to salvage your feelings, the attempt heartwarming.

“Does she know?” you asked, taking the chance to check if he remembered the other night or not while you had the opportunity.

“Nah,” he answered, surprising you with his honesty. “Was plannin’ on askin’ her out after her contract is done, but not sure if she deserves bein’ brought into the mess I’ve made. Not even sure how she feels about me.”

You smiled, knowing it was time to give up before he got too dispirited, now that you had got exactly the answer you had wanted to hear.

“C’mere,” you said, grabbing his hand and dragging a reluctant Sett over to the couch, pushing him to sit down.

“Meyu, this ain’t—”

“I’m not hitting on you, calm down,” you laughed, seeing where the panic in his eyes was heading. “Now just sit there for a minute and then we can talk.”

Sett looked tense, glancing towards the door, probably worried about where you had gone. Luckily for him, he was about to find out. All you could hope was that he didn’t hate you when this was over.

Approaching the mirror, you began by removing your blue contacts, placing them back in their case before picking up your makeup wipes. A glance back at Sett showed him staring down at the floor again, probably wishing it would just swallow him up so he could escape what he definitely felt was an awkward situation.

The closer you got to having your makeup fully removed, the higher your heartrate spiked, fearing his reaction but knowing you had to come clean all the same. Finally, you placed the last wipe down, you stared at your normal face in the mirror for a moment before calling out to Sett one last time in your Meyu voice.

“There’s something you need to know.”

Turning, you removed your wig at the same time, setting it on the counter and standing before him now as plain, normal you and desperately hoping he wouldn’t reject you too.

Sett exhaled your name, on his feet in an instant, a hard gleam in his eyes that unnerved you.

“I should have told you,” you spoke quickly as Sett began to advance on you, worried by his silence. “I… I only did it because—”

“…cuz I was a jackass,” he finished for you, taking the last few steps, backing you against the vanity, leaning down, his face so close you could feel his breath against your lips. “Can’t say I didn’t deserve it. If you wanna reject me back now, better do it quick.”

“What?” you replied. “I wouldn’t—”

“Good,” he grinned, lips brushing yours with how close your faces were now. “Would make kissin’ you now a lot more awkward.”

His large hand cupped your cheek, pulling you firmly against his lips with a satisfied exhale. Sett eagerly met tongues with you, hands going to your thighs to easily lift you up onto the counter, your hands finding purchase against his firm chest.

“Been wanting to do that,” he growled against your neck, pressing kisses by your ear, his body pressed as close to yours as he could be.

You laughed, leaning into the kisses happily. “Good thing you already did.”

“Doesn’t count,” he argued, scraping his teeth against your ear and sending a pleasant shiver down your spine. “Wanted to kiss you, not Meyu.”

“You did that too,” you giggled, Sett going still in response, pulling back to stare at you in confusion. “Guess you don’t remember what happened when I got you home from the club.”

Sett looked physically pained as he took in the information, but recovered quickly, smirking as he leaned back down to your lips. “Too bad ya didn’t tell me the morning after. Could’ve done this much sooner, pretty girl.”

Sett’s mouth was back on yours, one hand moving under your short skirt, fingers rubbing your center over your panties, grinning against your mouth when you let out a breathy moan against his own. He didn’t waste time being gentle, which was perfectly fine with you right now as you struggled to maintain the kiss as his fingers began to build you up to a better feeling than you had ever been able to do on your own.

Sett knew it too, pulling back to kiss at your neck and ear again, your eyes closing tightly as he brought you closer and closer to where you were desperate to be.

“Feels good?” he asked, voice low and sexy. “C’mon, I wanna hear how much you like my fingers.”

“Sett,” you moaned, further words escaping you as he scraped his teeth along your ear again, his fingers under your skirt relentless in maintaining pace.

Where had this Sett come from? It was a relief to know he didn’t hate you now, but… wait, you hadn’t actually confirmed that, had you?

You wanted to ask, you really did, but you were so close now that all you could focus on was how bad you needed to cum. How was he so good at this?

“Just a bit, just…” you managed, hands fisting his shirt as you panted the words.

“More?” he finished, pulling back to stare down at you with lust-hazed eyes locked on your face. “I can do that, baby. Just gotta cum for me.”

He didn’t let up one bit, your underwear a wet mess as his fingers pushed you over the edge, not letting up until you placed a shaky hand on his arm.

Sett smiled down at you as you tried to regain your brain function, leaning down to press a short kiss to your lips, his proximity to you letting you feel all of how hard he was right now.

“I, I can…” you started, not exactly knowing what you were trying to offer with your own inexperience but desperately wanting to do something for him, to hear him make those kinds of noises for you.

Sett sighed, pulling back from you with a frustrated glance at the door. “Wish we could, but I wanna take my time the first time I have you, and we don’t exactly have a lotta that right now.”

You sat up straighter, momentarily wincing at the level of wetness between your legs as you reluctantly agreed. You were honestly lucky nobody had come by to get him by now, as bad as you wanted him back between your legs right now.

You politely looked away as Sett attempted to adjust himself in his pants, suddenly very glad that it wasn’t you that had to go out and perform in front of an audience right now.

“Wanna take you up on that offer if you’re free tonight,” he grinned, bringing your attention back to him, his infectious smile almost enough to drive away your current worries, but you still had to ask.

“So you’re not mad?” you asked hesitantly, forcing yourself to meet his eyes. “I’ve been lying to you, I would have tried to ruin your career if I had actually found any dirt on you.”

You expected anger, but instead received a raised eyebrow, Sett leaning back into your space. “Too distracted by my abs to find any good dirt?”

You froze up, not expecting the teasing, Sett’s laughter at what must have been a thoroughly shocked look on your face making your face run warm.

“Nah, I’m not mad,” he replied. “It’s just funny, both girls of my dreams bein’ the same person.”

You weren’t given a chance to respond to his earnest words, not that you could do much other than stare at him in embarrassed awe. A smaller part of you hated exactly how spot on Akali’s assessment had been, but you shoved it down for the moment.

“You’re needed on set,” came a call from outside the room, accompanied by a series of knocks, whatever assistant likely running too late to bother coming in the room, which was very convenient for you now in your current position caged against the vanity.

You and Sett looked at each other for a short moment, and even as bad as you wanted to kiss him again, he had people waiting on him. Sett easily caught your eyes wandering to his lips, grinning and pulling you into his chest.

“You’re so damn cute,” he said, holding you in the hug for a few short moments before pulling back, looking at you with unexpectedly serious eyes. “You’re comin’ home with me after this, right?”

“But Alune–”

“Don’t care,” he dismissed easily. “Whatever she wants can wait till tomorrow, ‘cuz I’m gonna go crazy if I can’t have you under me tonight.”

You powered through your embarrassed shock like a champion, thanking your years as an idol. “Who said you won’t be under me tonight?”

Sett let out a bark of laughter, glancing over at the door as if he resented its existence. “You’re really gonna make me go out there after sayin’ something that hot? This ain’t just the next step in your plan, is it? Killin’ me right now to get your revenge?”

“You’re not going to die,” you teased him, loving the new rapport with him more than you would ever admit out loud. “But you should probably go before they come back.”

“You gonna clean up and follow me?” he asked, eyes drifting down to your still-upturned skirt, panties still obviously wet. “Would do it myself if I–”

“Just go!” you insisted, failing to hide how flustered you were feeling, hurriedly reaching down to pull your skirt down to cover your underwear, not that it would do anything to erase the knowledge from Sett’s mind. “I’ll be out soon.”

“No need for a deal this time,” he promised smugly. “I’m gonna keep your eyes on me all on my own this time.”

Sett laughed as your jaw dropped, staring at you for one moment more as if intent on burning a picture in his mind before he finally left, the door shutting and allowing you to finally relax your nerves.

Had that seriously just happened? You were still having a hard time believing that had just happened. Beyond all your panic and now relief, you realized you just felt… happy. Happier than you had felt in a long time.

It was on unsteady legs that you changed back into your comfy regular clothes and cleaned yourself up before heading off to the set, entering the group of production staff just as the rap segment began, Sett walking out on stage with a few other rappers that you vaguely recognized.

You stared at Sett even during the others’ turns to rap, his carefree grin making your heart skip a beat, unable to believe that he was really yours.

…or was he? You hadn’t actually asked him to be your boyfriend, let alone if that would even be possible if your agency had a say in the matter.

Thinking about the situation just irritated you. You weren’t about to let your agency control your life again, but was there even a way for you to keep both Sett and your job?

The answer came to you as you watched Sett take his turn to freestyle, a plan forming in your mind. You would make them see reason, whether they wanted to or not. You were their star talent, and you were intent on using that to your advantage.

You had compromised on so much, always been their perfect scandal-free star talent, so in your mind, you were owed a diva moment. And you would have it just as soon as you had a moment to make a phone call.

Sett had agreed immediately, eyes watching you like a very amused hawk as you made the phone call to your manager.

“I want to update the song before release,” you said, Sett’s hand on your thigh helping you stay calm. “I want to add a rap section just before the last chorus.”

“You realize how last minute this is, right?” your manager replied, sounding panicked. “We can just add a rap to your next single. Why did you want to rap anyways? You’ve never done one before, but I can talk to the higher ups about it if you really want to.”

“It won’t be me rapping,” you said, making eye contact with Sett, who smiled at you, squeezing your leg. “I want Sett to feature on Shy Boy, not my single after.”

The next noise you heard sounded like your manager dropping his phone before hastily picking it up again, Sett stifling a laugh beside you.

“Are you crazy?” he shot back when he had his phone back in his grasp. “The bosses will skin us both alive for even suggesting that! Why would Sett even agree to that?”

You locked eyes with Sett, who grinned, ready to hear you play your trump card. “Because he’s my boyfriend.”

This time you had expected the phone drop that came, your manager stuttering out a promise to call you back before hanging up, which finally allowed you and Sett to dissolve into laughter.

“Having second thoughts?” you asked Sett, whose nose wrinkled with offense.

“Hell no,” he responded defiantly. “Well, maybe for one thing. Should’ve kissed you on T.V. years ago.”

“Yeah, you probably should have,” you agreed, knowing the you that day would have thought you now was crazy. But there was no denying what a favor Sett had done for you, even if you hadn’t realized it then.

“So that gym stuff was a lie too?” Sett asked as you retrieved your bag from behind the couch to re-stow your Meyu stuff in it.

“Yeah,” you answered with a shrug. What was one more lie to come clean about?

“Good,” he replied. “‘Cause now that I know you’re free, I need to get you somewhere where I can hear you scream.”

Sett hadn’t even bothered to take a look around your place before pushing you against your closed front door, hiking your leg high on his waist so he could grind his clothed cock against you, pressing heated kisses against your neck while he worked his hips against yours.

“You have to…” You tried your best to be the responsible one. “You have to write your verse.”

“Later,” he dismissed, kissing you to silence further protests, a strategy that worked way too well, especially when he shifted and the friction of his hips against yours got way harder to resist the pull of.

“I’ll think better after I make you cum again,” he offered cheekily, grinning wider as he easily took notice of how flustered you were already.

He leaned back down, quickly finding a good spot on your neck, your hands grasping onto his shirt for dear life.

You had never been this tempted by a man before, always able to evade scandals and focus on work. But the more time you spent with Sett, the less you cared about that boring image that had taken years to cultivate. Sett was good for you, and you wanted him more now than you had wanted any number one single or sold-out concert. Now you were just hoping you wouldn’t embarrass yourself with your lack of experience.

“Tell you what,” Sett growled into your ear, easily lifting you into his arms, hands under your thighs. “If you can still remember your name after we’re done, I’ll write that verse tonight.”

“Deal,” you agreed, even though you had full confidence that he wouldn’t be writing any verses today.

Sett brought you over to the couch, setting you down on it but not joining you yet, to your surprise. You were further surprised when he dropped down to his knees before you, watching transfixed as he removed your shoes and socks, discarding them behind him.

“You okay with this?” he asked, hands raising to settle on your waist, fingers brushing against your bare skin.

“Yeah,” you managed to reply. You weren’t quite enough of a pure virgin to not know what he meant. And the thought of letting him do whatever he wanted to you right now was making your pulse rush with anticipation.

“Good,” he grinned. “‘Cuz I’d eat your pussy any time you ask.”

You looked away from his smirking face with a blush you couldn’t fight off, cursing your idol instincts for failing you in this moment. Though it wasn’t like you looked like much of an idol at the moment, raising your hips so Sett could pull your leggings and panties down and off, exposing your lower half to his hungry eyes.

“Uh, should I…?” you spoke up, awkwardly tugging at your sweater, hoping you didn’t sound as inexperienced as you felt.

“Do whatever you want, baby,” he answered, the pet name sparking warmth in your lower stomach. “I just wanna make you feel good.”

You made your best effort to supress a shiver as Sett leaned forward, easing your legs over his broad shoulders and allowing him easy access to your pussy.

Your intrusive thoughts wondered just how much experience he had over you, but only for a brief moment as Sett seemed intent on wiping your mind of all thought with the first press of his tongue to your clit.

He started out slow, feeling you out for any minute reactions, of which your oversensitive nerves were happy to provide. The feeling was so intense, and you couldn’t help but whine and squirm, so much so that Sett had to place a forearm over your waist to keep you in place while he worked.

Sett briefly pulled back to watch your face, his tongue being replaced by his thumb rubbing you in tight circles, the rising feelings making it hard to keep your eyes open, moaning softly as he hit a good streak, your orgasm approaching so fast that you felt like you could reach out and grab it if he just rubbed your clit a little more.

“No offense to Meyu, but she’s never sounded as good as you do right now,” Sett grinned before diving back in with his mouth, the reintroduction of his tongue on your clit making your breath come out in pants, Sett seeming intent to suck the life out of you through your pussy.

You weren’t exactly shy about your reactions, which Sett eagerly capitalized on, keeping up a steady rhythm with his tongue against your clit, rewarded with a panted moan of his name as he shot you over your peak.

Your legs were shaky, and you knew without Sett’s hands keeping you steady, you would sink to the ground with how boneless you felt after your orgasm. Slowly, he eased your legs off his shoulders and leaned over you on the couch.

“You sound so good,” he groaned into your ear. “Wish I could taste you more but I don’t think you could handle that right now.”

You wanted that too, the brief experience so addicting, but you weren’t about to just sit back and let the focus be only on you. Gathering up your nerve, you looked at Sett, only to find his focus back on your lower half, running a big hand over your thigh.

Sett closed his eyes readily as you leaned forward to kiss him, one hand drifting down to grab your ass and pull you in closer, seemingly unable to separate himself from your lips for long.

Pulling back, you stepped around him and got up, pulling your sweater and bra off and tossing them in the direction of the existing clothing pile.

“Sett,” you addressed him, his eyes obediently shifting from your chest to your face, the motion adorable with the slightly red tinge to his cheeks. “Clothes off and lay back on the couch.”

Sett grinned wide as he roughly pulled his shirt off, a seam audibly tearing in his excited haste, the sound not slowing his pace and making you wonder if he had even heard it. His pants and underwear were discarded with just as little care, his eyes focussed on you the entire time as he switched places, Sett sitting down on your couch like he belonged there, his intimidatingly-sized cock hard and pointed right at you.

You glanced down at his cock, not fully sure exactly what you wanted to do with it yet, but Sett beat you to the punch.

“Don’t need your mouth this time,” he said, voice low with unrestrained desire. “Just wanna be inside you, pretty girl.”

You couldn’t hide the slight shudder that his words went straight down your body, doing your best to discard your fears of your own inexperience as you stepped closer to the couch.

It wasn’t like you hadn’t watched porn before, at least enough to feign confidence as you straddled Sett, taking his cock in one hand and then sinking down on it in one fluid movement, the loud groan he let out music to your ears as his hands took up positions on both sides of your hips.

Even as wet as you were, you were not prepared for just how full you felt in that moment. You could tell Sett was big, had secretly guesstimated it just by looking at him fully clothed, but it was a whole other thing feeling him inside you.

Sett was having trouble adjusting too, as evidenced by his fingers gently clenching and unclenching your hips, his teeth gritted in what was certainly not pain.

“Need a second?” you asked him, feeling the need to tease him as if you weren’t in exactly the same position yourself.

“Funny,” he snorted, slowly raising you halfway off his cock. “I was gonna ask you the same thing after I make you cum a third time.”

You couldn’t respond, half-thought words turning into a cry of surprise as he started a steady pace without waiting for your half-baked comeback, pulling you down to meet his mouth with every thrust he made back upwards. You found your instincts, moving your body with his and meeting every kiss with everything you had.

Eventually, neither of you seemed able to part from the other, Sett pulling you fully onto him so he could hold you tightly to himself, thrusting up into you, the feeling this position brought on having you clutch at his back, nails digging into his skin.

“You’re so tight,” Sett growled in between kisses. “Feels so fuckin’ good, baby.”

“Sett,” you moaned in return. “Please, please, I’m so close.”

You were so wrecked, completely overwhelmed by the feeling of being on the verge of the strongest orgasm of your life, and Sett could clearly notice, moving slower and deeper when he noticed how it made you moan louder.

“Gonna cum, baby?” he asked, eyes focused on your face like a predator. “Wanna see that face you make again. Never wanna stop having you like this.”

Sett had strong follow-through, his thumb finding your clit and his mouth on the side of your neck as he rolled his hips into yours, his efforts rewarding him with your shuddered breathing and breathy cries of his name as he shoved you over the edge. You were so out of it, eyes shutting tightly as Sett took over entirely, coasting you along aftershocks of your high, only realizing after you returned to at least half coherence that he was still rock hard inside you.

“Sett, you…” you started, shaking your head to try and get your messy hair out of your eyes as you stared at him, unsure of what to say, what you should be doing now, but knowing that you weren’t about to let this end without returning the favor. “You haven’t–”

Sett let out a shaky breath, warm against your skin before responding, still slowly rocking you on his dick, the lingering sparks of feeling the movement prolonged making your toes curl.

“Not till you did,” he panted. “That’s three times now. Never gonna get tired of how cute you sound full of my—”

“Sett!” You tried to refocus the sly half-Vastaya. “I wanna make you cum. Tell me how you want me.”

Sett’s eyes went wide before a grin lifted his lips. “If ya insist… can you get on all fours for me then?”

You eagerly complied, trying to ignore the slick noise as you pushed off, getting into the requested position, Sett’s hands taking up their former position on your hips, lining himself up and pushing smoothly back inside you.

This time, the pace was all for him, hard and rough, the room instantly filled with the sounds of your bodies meeting, the squeaky couch noises fading away as you were tuned entirely into the sound of Sett’s voice, alternating between loud pants and groaned praises as he chased his own end.

All you could do was brace yourself against the cushion, clenching around Sett until he finally stilled, keeping his hips tightly pressed to yours for a long moment before finally pulling out, laying back against the couch with your body pulled on top of his, one strong arm around your waist, unwilling to part from you, which was just fine with you.

Your couch was luckily wide enough to allow you both to lay down, snuggling into his side coming to you as easy as breathing.

Sett leaned over to kiss your head, and even the reality of how sweaty and ruffled you felt couldn’t ruin the perfection of the moment.

It was almost strange to feel so at peace, no real-world stresses able to reach you here. Tomorrow, you could deal with the upset fans and your label freaking out. You weren’t going to let anything stop you from keeping Sett by your side, though you did wonder what the Heartsteel boys were going to think, knowing very well that you weren’t going to be able to hide your dual identities from them.

You would potentially wait longer than a day to admit to Sett just who had been behind the plan to force a confession to Meyu out of him, laughing silently at the face you knew he would make at the revelation that his own mom had helped conspire against him.

Sett snorted when you posed the question to him. “Ya know Kayn will probably think he has a better chance with Akali now.”

You laughed. “Last I heard she blocked him again for spamming her with eggplant emojis.”

Sett’s expression softened, his hand idly petting your hair. “Never thought I’d get you to laugh like that after how our first meeting went.”

“Well you didn’t exactly make the best first impression,” you noted, poking him in one of his furry ears., watching it twitch in response.

Sett winced, pulling your head in close so he could murmur into your ear. “Thought I’d regret it forever but I can’t regret anythin’ that got me here now.”

You were about to aww until he added, “…wasn’t kiddin’ about what I said, by the way. I’d drop anythin’ any time you want my mouth between your legs.”

“Sett!”

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